Think before you vote

KAROO NEWS - The upcoming local elections have been described as the "toilet election," and rightly so. Vexed voters who are sick and tired of empty promises and a disgraceful lack of service delivery will get a chance on Monday 1 November to have a say in planning the road ahead.

South Africa, as a young democracy, faces multiple crises that threaten its "peaceful existence": huge unemployment, poverty, hunger, inequality, corruption and failure to deliver basic services.

These are some of the reasons that have dissuaded 13 million eligible voters from registering to vote on Monday.

Under apartheid the quality of services, even though far from equal between white and black communities, was crystal clear. Under the ANC, 27 years later, the situation, especially at local government level, is desperate.

The mammoth scale of the crisis in local government is reflected in the potholes, litter in the streets, sewage running down roads, and abandoned shops in most platteland towns. Some consequences of the decline are an enormous wastage of public resources, deteriorating infrastructure, millions of under-serviced people, and a rise in poverty.

A dumping site in Kroonvale - not a pretty sight. Photo: Hugo Redelinghuys

In Graaff-Reinet alone the municipality has spent an estimated R6,2-million on the provision of security services during the previous financial year. But vandalism and theft of municipal properties are still rife. Taxpayers need to question this.

For five years local municipalities have had ample time to deliver on their core mandate to serve the people.

Voters in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality and the Sarah Baartman district will now get a chance to put the record straight. Most voters are very loyal - devoted is probably a better word - to a specific party even if the party officials have feet of clay, are corrupt to the core or are simply useless. One could only hope that, as the years have progressed, voters will this time around be asking tougher questions around issues such as the delivery of water, which is a crucial issue in our neck of the woods. Voters need to vote with their minds and not their hearts.

The view from the crèche in Sunflower Street.

What is in short supply to solve the problem is sound leaders who care about the towns in which they live. It also requires that the inefficient are fired and good law enforcement exists to ensure the corrupt are prosecuted. Quite simply, there have to be consequences for failing to do the job.

To achieve these objectives will require ethical leadership, service orientation and good governance together with merit-based appointments (and not senseless cadre deployment).

The governing ANC's scorecard on service delivery is appalling. Of the 257 various municipalities, just 27 had received clean audits. Not only does this highlight the blatant corruption happening at a local government level, but also calls attention to the sheer amount of money diverted away from those who really need it. As a result, SA citizens are deprived of basic social services.