Gaye Davis
WARNING that local government transition was heading into “white waters”, Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert this week appealed to politicans engaged in demarcation dogfights to settle their differences, saying any delays in the process would lead to conflict.
If transforming local government became bogged down in lengthy court actions, local elections would be impossible, Reconstruction and Development Programme delivery delayed and instability and conflict would result, the co-chairperson of the Local Government Elections Task Group told the Mail & Guardian.
His warning came as central government — in the form of a parliamentary commitee – stepped in on Wednesday to defuse political tensions between the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Party (NP) over boundary disputes in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
Moves by Gauteng MEC Dan Mofokeng and Western Cape MEC Peter Marais to re-draw their municipal boundaries have thrown into sharp relief the fragility of party unity at local level and the difficulties of maintaining a consensus-driven transition.
“We have a deal-driven transition at all levels,” said Slabbert. “It will be smooth as long as the deal holds. It’s easier to keep it going at national and provincial levels, but at the local level it’s village-pump
Slabbert refused to comment on the merits of the disputes which have flared in the Western Cape and Gauteng over boundaries. But he said such dilemmas were “endemic” to the Local Government Transition Act (LGTA), which was a product of compromise.
“If one wanted to make local elections difficult, then one would use something like the LGTA — but it’s the only deal in town.
“The Act is based on the assumption that we can negotiate the democratisation of local government right up to campaigns starting,” he said. “It is based on the assumption that everyone would strive for consensus. We are not engaged in a normal process here, and on the one hand, it is surprising there are not more problems.
“But the LGTA is a litigant’s dream. It tells people they must bargain with each other whether they like it or not. The moment one or other party does not like what is happening it can threaten court action. If the process gets embroiled in litigation, we can forget local government elections. We are going to need very skillful political negotiations to get through.
“We have broken the fever of registration — it is unbelievable that it now stands at 60 percent. Now we have to break the fever of demarcation. We are really into the white waters.”
His message to politicians was: “Settle – don’t waste
“This is an interim solution,” he said. “It’s not perfect. I would say to the politicians, please — don’t screw up. Don’t arrest the process of democracy. Don’t delay delivery. This route will lead into
His appeal came as, after a marathon and often bitter debate, Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Constitutional Affairs passed an amendment to the LGTA which, if signed by President Nelson Mandela, will give central government the final word in appointments to provincial committees.
It followed Western Cape MEC Peter Marais’ unilateral decision to fire two members and replace them with conservative non-statutory members. The move was seen as gerrymandering, enabling him to get his decision to re-draw Cape Metropole boundaries rubber-stamped.
The LGTA amendment will nullify Marais’ moves and the provincial committee will have to take a fresh look at whether Cape Town’s largest township, Khayelitsha, should form part of a massive central sub-structure, as Marais wanted, or be tied to the predominantly Afrikaans-speaking northern suburbs, as the Demarcation Board proposed.
NP sources said this week that the Western Cape government may launch a Supreme Court challenge to the
A top-level NP bid on Wednesday to defuse the situation — involving NP leader FW de Klerk, Western Cape leader Dawie de Villiers, Western Cape Premier Hernus Kriel and Minister Roelf Meyer — failed on Wednesday.