Local government is us. (BC)

Comrades, it is true
that local government concerns water coming out of taps, lights switching on,
municipal roads without potholes, sewerage not flowing on street pavements, and
several other basic amenities, including our graves functioning properly. 

Through local
government, society has a direct experience of what government, the state, or a
country’s politics can do for it. Our Constitution identifies only local
government as the sphere of government that provides

·      Democratic
and accountable government for communities

·      A
framework or institutional mechanisms to encourage the involvement of
communities and community organisations in its matters

Comrades, democracy will
never change from being government of, for, and by the people. This is strong
in South Africa, and it is lived in the local government where everyone lives.

No home address
in the provincial or national sphere; it is expressed through a street in a
municipal ward or village. Suppose our relevance as the ANC is not felt in a
household, then the street, the section, the ward, the zone, and ultimately a
municipal jurisdiction. In that case, we must know we are in an existential
crisis as a movement.

Comrades, we must ensure
that local government, specifically municipalities, prioritise the community’s
basic needs and promote social and economic development.

Unless someone advises
us differently, the basic needs are water through its various uses, electricity
as the dominant energy form, and public infrastructure as the platform upon
which everything is facilitated. The state is obliged to progressively ensure
the roads and bulk services that meet all other needs of society, from private
sector investment to other secondary rights-related matters.

The local government
challenge is systemic. We know the municipal debt crisis with ESKOM and Water
Boards. We are all aware that when we remove the equitable share and other
intergovernmental grants from most municipalities, we literally have bankrupt
entities which we cannot declare as going concerns.

Municipal financial
indicators are loud in telling us that what municipalities budget and spend has
no relationship with what they collect. Logic would dictate that you reduce
what you cannot afford, but our lived logic is to continue spending money we don’t
have and are not collecting.

This is not a service
delivery issue; it is a political leadership issue, and thus, it is a problem
for us as a collective to make calls for the sake of the country and our
continued existence.

The root cause of this
challenge, and we might want to wish this away, is the politics of how we
deploy into local government. We know that the professionals appointed to
manage the system are overruled by many of us, political leaders.

What is to be done?

1.   Let
us be honest with and to each other.

2.   Let
us tell our people the truth about what is not possible

3.   Let
us appoint  local government public
representatives who are credible

4.   Let us review how we deploy in the
bureaucracy and make public service a career of choice for our country’s
brilliant and bright minds.

Comrades, further with regard to what is to be done, local
government has about five core functions. These are

Municipal Manager, Municipal Engineering, Municipal Planning, Municipal
Treasury, and Municipal Secretary.

These functions must be the five pillars that drive local
government. We must agree as the ANC that we are not going to allow
municipalities that are governed by us to have these functions under properly
qualified people. The time has arrived for us to refuse the employment of
municipal managers who do not understand their roles.

To achieve this, we must explore the idea of establishing a
specialised local government public service commission, either as a distinct
unit in the National Public Service Commission or as a stand-alone entity.

Comrades, we are observing a new phenomenon of power spreading, and smaller
parties and individuals are starting to emerge as alternatives to us; this must
be reversed. 

With the diffusion of
political power comes the new power of aggregated minorities, who are
progressively being organised as an opposition against the liberation movement
and its ideals; this erodes our people’s trust in us.

Remember, evidence is
that our people are not voting against us in numbers; they are just abstaining
from democracy. We need to restore their confidence in our capacity to
lead them, for it is the cornerstone of our mandate and the fuel of our
movement.

Comrades, we are observing a new phenomenon of power spreading, and smaller
parties and individuals are starting to emerge as alternatives to us; this must
be reversed. 

With the diffusion of
political power comes the new power of aggregated minorities, who are
progressively being organised as an opposition against the liberation movement
and its ideals; this erodes our people’s trust in us.

Remember, evidence is
that our people are not voting against us in numbers; they are just abstaining
from democracy. We need to restore their confidence in our capacity to
lead them, for it is the cornerstone of our mandate and the fuel of our
movement.