Kliptown in Johannesburg erupted this week — and poor service delivery was at the root of the disturbance. Following similar explosions in Deneysville and Metsimaholo in the Free State, Lenasia South, Eldorado Park and the Khutsong area, poor communities have taken to the streets to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with government’s perceived inability to minister to South Africa’s poor.
”Since 1996 we were the first to apply for houses, electricity and toilets,” says Kliptown community leader King Cecil Nathan (77), who is a pensioner.
”I’ve applied for electricity since 2003,” says Nathan. ”The councillors said they can’t put electricity here, they are going to abolish this place and improve our living conditions.”
Since his family has no electricity, they use paraffin for lighting, coal for the stove and gas for the fridge.
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa says the provincial government has taken note of some of the protests, but this will not force local government to abandon those in line to benefit from delivery programmes in favour of those who blockade roads, use violence and destroy property. ”No amount of violence will force the government at any level to allow anyone to jump the queue,” says Shilowa.
The province is under pressure over its service delivery capacity because of rapid urbanisation and an influx of immigrants from the rest of the continent, all flocking to Gauteng, says Shilowa.
Johannesburg’s city manager, Mavela Dlamini, understands that people have been waiting for housing for years, but the city has to operate within a legal framework. ”There is a plan for how and when Kliptown will be restored.”
Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi believes the protests have been directed at government in general and not just at local government. ”The challenge is effective coordination between the three spheres of government — local, national and provincial — to ensure effective delivery. And then coordination and integration between the three spheres is needed.”
Matshiqi says there is a tension between expectations of communities on the one hand, and on the other the pace at which delivery occurs. That tension can be explained in part by weaknesses in capacity which are most serious at local government level. The primary drivers of protests, he says, are socioeconomic conditions and poor service delivery.
Trevor Ngwane, Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) organiser in Soweto and member of APF affiliate the Kliptown Concerned Residents, says the forum supports the protesters and helped organise the march.
The reason for the protests, Ngwane says, is that the government is not listening to the people. ”There have been numerous marches in Kliptown and the government never responds to the memorandums which the residents submit. So people say ‘what is the use, we are going to march’, give a memorandum [and] then nothing happens. The government probably throws the memorandum in the rubbish bin,” says Ngwane.
”We tell communities that the priority of government is football and not housing,” Ngwane says, referring to the government’s budget for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Matshiqi says the government should improve communication with communities. ”Government must decide what model of service delivery to follow. The current dominant model — where the government is the doctor and the community is the patient — has not been successful. An empowerment model is needed, whereby communities participate and are involved right from policy conception to the community determining their priorities.”
But Shilowa argues: ”The challenge remains the continued roll-out and fast-tracking of government’s programme to address the legacy of poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment in our province and in our country.”
The report of TNS research surveys on service delivery in urban areas, released early this week, found that 27% of South Africans are dissatisfied with service delivery. Possible flashpoint provinces include Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West.