The 2016 local government elections marked a turning point in South Africa’s history. While coalition governments had existed prior, the loss of political power by the African National Congress in the City of Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the City of Ekurhuleni, where the party maintained plurality but had to govern through a coalition, was unprecedented. It signalled a new era of diminished hegemony for the ANC and the end of the dominant-party system that had defined South Africa’s politics since the dawn of democracy. And while these coalition governments were characterised by institutional instability and systematic collapse, they set parameters for what is likely the future of governance in the country. In Future Realities of Coalition Governments in South Africa, City of Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor, Mzwandile Masina, investigates the socio-economic and political factors that led to the ANC’s haemorrhaging of electoral support. Coalition experiences across the metros, district and local municipalities, as well as case studies across the SADC region are explored. Through empirical evidence, the study seeks to make sense of how government practitioners and the electorate experience coalition governments. The salient question, and perhaps one of the most important of our time, is asked: Are coalitions the future of governance in South Africa?