An activist who campaigned for rent boycotts during the apartheid years now uses the same tactics to persuade people to pay for services, reports Gaye Davis
AS a young activist, Chris Ngcobo used to go door to door persuading Soweto residents to boycott rent and service payments. That was in the late 1980s, when the name of the game was to make the townships
In a classic new-South African paradigm, Ngcobo, now 33, is responsible for inducing people to start paying. As manager of the government’s most ambitious project yet — the Masakhane (Let us Build Together) Campaign – – he’ll be dealing with the self-same street committees he helped set up to enforce the boycott which saw the collapse of black local authorities.
“When they offered me the job I laughed,” he said. “It took a lot of persuasion.
“But I believe in the new government and believe I have a duty to ensure people play their part. I’m quite good at persuading people. When I give the message to people I’m honest. I say there hasn’t been enough delivery, but there are signs at least of a commitment on the part of government, and we’ve never had that before.”
One of 15 children, Ngcobo grew up in a three-roomed Soweto house, becoming active in the civic at 16. He jokes how the last time he was anywhere near parliament it was as an Azanian Students’ Organisation leader, with his “shoulder against the gate” during a protest. He went on to graduate from Wits University with a BA in African politics and industrial sociology, and was outreach manager at the Urban Foundation’s urban strategy and policy unit.
His brief — like the campaign itself — is much broader than simply urging people to cough up. Launched by President Nelson Mandela at the Marconi Beam squatter settlement near Milnerton last Saturday, the campaign has to do with changing not only the mindset of defaulters, but also of local authorities.
A multi-pronged initiative involving the ministries of housing, constitutional affairs and the reconstruction and development programme, the campaign is aimed at rebuilding shattered township infrastructure and administration, and restoring the rule of law. It is not a quick-fix; results are expected to be slow and
Backed up by a fleet of trucks with purpose-built speakers’ platforms, Ngcobo will be hitting the campaign trail in April on the wave of a R10-million media blitz, including a series of TV adverts starring Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
He’ll be liaising with community organisations, burial societies, street committees and women’s and church groups, helping to plug the communication gap the government concedes exists between itself and residents and unblocking problems affecting delivery.
“The tactics we used to destroy apartheid are the tactics we should use again,” said Ngcobo. “There’s a feeling among both black and white people that Big Brother in Pretoria will come and help them. That time is over.
“My friends ask me why they should start paying when the sewage still runs in their streets. I say to them this government is committed to helping people but needs their support if it is to be able to lay new sewerage pipes capable of dealing with the numbers.
“They say they’ve heard about the things government is doing, but see no change around them. I make them a promise — I say, you know me from those days, you know I can make things work.
“But we also need to ensure that streets are actually cleaned when someone is paid to do it. The campaign needs to be directed at government itself. In some areas, it’s not a question of needing more funds, but of making better use of those resources that are available. We’re saying, let’s use the resources we have to the maximum, let’s train people to be good
His superior, the Masakhane Campaign chairman, is deputy minister of constitutional affairs Valli Moosa. When Ngcobo was jailed during the State of Emergency, his cell was just a few doors away from the one Moosa was occupying.
Moosa said last week that in December 1994, the arrears bill stood at R810-million, even though old arrears were written off last January. These arrears will not be written off, and local authorities will have to find mechanisms to deal with the deficit.
By May last year, Moosa said, payment rates were at 19 percent. By December the same year, they were at 31 percent — still not enough to keep local authorities functioning. This should be seen in the context that some 55 percent of residents in former black local authorities are not being billed or notified of arrears, while pay-points are either non-existent or barely functional.
In this campaign, the carrot will be bigger than the stick. Widescale evictions and indiscriminate punishment of payers and defaulters alike by cutting power supplies to entire townships will not be an option, though persistent offenders will have to be dealt with. The ways and means will, however, first be canvassed with community leaders before any action is
Incentive schemes to reward those who pay up on time are to be devised, as well as a way of dealing with those who can’t afford to pay.
“We must stop talking about a boycott,” said Ngcobo. “Unlike during my days in the struggle, there is no organised rent boycott with someone taking political responsibility at the end of the line. We must stop talking about a boycott and look at people as
There will be training for new councillors and local authority staff with the message that they’re there to serve the people; a start will be made on ipgrading and extending services so people can see change in their immediate environments. It’s hoped the fact that most of the discredited former black local authorities have been replaced by transitional structures that, while their officials have not been elected, at least enjoy greater legitimacy, will give impetus to the campaign.
Turning the juggernaut of non-payment around is one of the biggest challenges faced by the government: the success or failure of the RDP and housing projects pivots on it.
No one is under any illusion that it will be easy, or that it will happen overnight. Why pay when so many others aren’t? At the end of his year-long contract, Ngcobo hopes to report a payment rate of about 40
“We discovered in the old days it was easier to destroy than to build, so it’s a huge challenge,” he said. “When you haven’t been paying for 10 years, you don’t even think about it. People’s pockets are tight. The only thing to make people move is to build their confidence in government.”