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The Democracy Development Program held a convention where a panel of eminent international speakers spoke about their experiences of political coalitions in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Germany. The symposium was held at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban on the 10th of July 2018 and was organized by the DDP and funded by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation (KAS).

Keynote speaker, Denis Kadima the executive director of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), presented on the politics of coalitions in Africa (DRC), with specific focus Politics of Party Alliances and Coalitions in socially-divided Africa. Kadima said that pre-electoral alliances and post-election coalitions are gradually a substantial feature of current African politics, that the construction of a coalition government is the reasonable next step when no party has been able to secure an absolute majority of seats, particularly in contexts where government is to be formed by the majority party.

Kadima was followed by Henning Suhr, KAS Resident Representative, who gave specific lessons from Germany focusing on the following; political systems, Ideology, programs of political parties and Political cultures. Dr. Jason Musyoka from the University of Pretoria gave lessons for South African political parties as well as the civil society. His presentation was focusing on the Kenyan experience of Party coalition. The last speaker was Zimbabwean scholar and Executive Chairman of the Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust Dr. Ibbo Mandaza, who gave lessons focusing on Zimbabwe’s political context.

This conversation was attended by different political party representatives in the KwaZulu-Natal region and civil society organizations as well as ordinary citizens.