Use the public holiday in South Africa this week well
President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to use the public holiday on Wednesday, 4 November, to vote for leaders who will put progress and development first.
In his letter to the public on Monday (2 November), Ramaphosa admitted that municipalities across the country had become a space for corruption and patronage, choosing enrichment over service delivery.
He said that municipalities are responsible for providing most of the services that people need and to which they are entitled by the country’s Constitution.
They are supposed to provide water, sanitation, electricity and other basic services, drawing businesses for further investment and employment opportunities.
“Businesses invest in areas where services are reliable and affordable, where infrastructure is maintained and which are stable and safe,” he said.
However, this has not been happening, and many municipalities have failed in their mandates.
The president said these failings are evident “in the current design of our local government system”, which has “created space for corruption and patronage”.
“We have seen corrupt local government officials scheme with businesspeople to obtain tenders for services that are substandard or not delivered at all,” he said.
“Contestations over power and access to resources in local government have contributed to acts of violence, including disruptions of council meetings and the killings of ward candidates, councillors and municipal officials.”
He said that a democratic contest for the opportunity to serve communities has in some cases become a transactional arrangement.
“Some councillors who are ‘bought’ by businesspeople often put matters of procurement above the needs of our people,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that the government is trying to combat this more directly.
The new White Paper on Local Government, which was officially launched last month, aims to strengthen the ability of municipalities to fulfil their responsibilities.
It proposes a series of reforms across the board to improve efficiency and ensure there is accountability when failures occur.
However, as much as the government is doing what it can, he said it is ultimately up to citizens to vote and elect the right people for the job.
“Municipal failures have contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance,” he said.
“This election is an opportunity to turn this around and to build local government as an instrument for development.”
Votes will offer an unprecedented breadth of candidate and party choices. 546 parties will be represented in the election, with nearly 137,000 candidates standing.
Ramaphosa said the candidates elected to lead the eight metros, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities this Wednesday will be the start.
“They will assume office at a time when we are undertaking a bold reset of the entire local government system,” he said.
“Let us vote for progress and development.”
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