President Jacob Zuma vowed that the African National Congress (ANC) would fix local government as he launched the ANC’s 2011 election manifesto on Sunday.
He told thousands of ANC members that it was the “daily experiences” South Africans had with local government that fostered their negative attitudes toward it.
“It is the unreasonably high water and light accounts due to incorrect billing. It is the water or lights that get switched off at the most inconvenient of times, only to find that the person has actually paid the account, or power and water failures due to old infrastructure,” he said at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
This after a billing crisis in the City of Johannesburg, a key municipality, led to residents protesting at local government offices.
“It is the frustration of going to a municipal office to outline one’s frustrations, only to find clerks who are too busy to care.
“It is the frustration of never finding one’s councillor to report any difficulties or make suggestions.
“While we have achieved a lot, there is clearly much more that needs to be done.”
‘Accountable, efficient and competent’
He said the ANC “heard” the concerns of the people and was working on addressing them.
“The ANC government … will ensure all councillors serve those they represent and are accountable to them,” he said.
The monitoring and performance evaluation instituted at national level would filter down to local level too, he said.
Zuma said the party would find councillors who would be “accountable, efficient and competent”.
“We are committed to ensure that every councillor will report back to communities on plans.”
There has been an outcry in Gauteng over the lack of consultation about the implementation of a pricey tolling system.
Zuma said the ANC would ensure a more “active”, “clean” local government.
On corruption Zuma said: “We will review the tendering system to deal with corruption systematically.”
Growing discontent
Earlier, ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema delivered a biting warning to those in office abusing their power to benefit their friends and immediate family.
“This democracy is not a democracy of families, this is a democracy of the people of this country … We cannot sit back while families enrich themselves in the name of freedom,” Malema said.
Reports surfaced recently about lucrative mining deals entered into by Zuma’s son, Duduzane, and the Gupta family, from India.
Malema’s comments came as the Sunday Times published a report on growing discontent in ANC ranks about the Gupta family’s role in influencing the government in appointing chief executives and chairpersons of key parastatals.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) last week expressed concern over reports at the “growing number” of reports and allegations that the family was involved — along with Zuma’s son — in mining, property and other deals.
Malema said nobody should abuse the country’s minerals because they belonged to the people.
“This is our minerals … We must fight for them,” he said, reiterating the ANCYL’s support for nationalising the country’s mines.
Malema also urged ANC members to vote for the party irrespective of whether they approved of the councillor it selected.
“Whether you like the face or not [of the councillor] … as long as next to that face is the emblem of the ANC, you must vote for that face,” he said. “We are failed by individuals, not by our organisation, the ANC.”
Malema said people wanted councillors who would work for them. “We don’t want councillors that use surnames to hire people. We don’t want councillors who use surnames to give RDP houses,” he said.
‘Serve the people, don’t serve your stomachs’
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi called on those aggrieved by the candidates selected as councillors by the ANC not to resort to violence.
He said the ANC should take “stern action” against those who did.
He reiterated that Cosatu and the ANC were not giving the councillors the nominated a “blank cheque”.
“Serve the people, serve the poor, don’t serve your stomachs,” he said.
Vavi confirmed Cosatu’s support for the ANC in the upcoming polls.
“It’s therefore the Cosatu manifesto that we are announcing today [Sunday], just like it’s the ANC manifesto,” he said.
Zuma spoke at length about the ANC’s accomplishments before detailing its manifesto.
A date for the local government polls has yet to be announced.
He said the ANC was committed to building integrated, non-racial communities. “We need to move away from simply building houses for the poor and work towards building more united, non-racial and integrated communities across our cities and towns,” he said.
He said work was ongoing to ensure that new settlements were more non-racial and involved the creation of mixed income.
He said only the ruling party was capable of transforming the lives of the people.
“We have kept the economy developing, reduced poverty and expanded basic services to unprecedented levels.”
He said the ANC had achieved this because the people had consistently responded to the call to work together. — Sapa