By Minister Des Van Rooyen
The violent protests in certain parts of our country has become a worrying trend as it infringes on the democratic rights of other South Africans. The looting, intimidation, destruction and burning of property that accompany these protests deny other members of communities their rights to freely move around. They also deny them an opportunity to improve their lives and move our country forward.
These events are of great concern to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. It is also evident that some of these protests are not related to the delivery of services, but are seemingly about the exclusion of some members of various political parties from the nomination process of councillors for the upcoming local government elections.
But equally concerning is the fact that these violent protests have the potential to damage the country’s reputation. In addition, they can negatively influence rating agencies insofar as the country’s political stability is concerned. While the right to protest is enshrined in our Constitution, it comes with responsibilities. All South Africans when exercising their democratic right to protest must do so peacefully and within the confines of law.
While the country has experienced sustained positive economic growth since 1994, the impact of this growth on poverty and service delivery is steadily making the desired impact. Services are still trickling down to communities, but this cannot justify the destruction of property, loss of life and infrastructure that we have witnessed since the beginning of this year.
The worst of these protests have been seen in Vuwani with the destruction and burning of 28 schools and the death of two people in the recent protest in Hammanskraal.
As we move closer to the local government elections on 3 August, it is without doubt that government’s record on service delivery will come under scrutiny. We have to remember that government has since the first democratic elections in 1994 and the subsequent establishment of local government 16 years ago made significant inroads in improving and changing the lives of our people.
The last 16 years has been marked by numerous changes which have been necessary to overhaul the dysfunctional administrative and political structure we inherited in 1994. We have established a single, accountable and unified local government system that is responsive to the needs of the people.
We have effectively moved from a zero base in large areas of the country to the present situation where every municipality provides services to meet the basic needs of our citizens, and is at the forefront of improving their quality of life.
We have also established several platforms for the public to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Communities are encouraged to use them to hold municipal councils to account and ensure they deliver on their promises. This can take many forms – be it visiting your municipal offices, writing letters to Mayors, Premiers and MECs to express your concerns. Alternatively, you can raise your concerns with the Public Protector or Ward Councillors prior to exercising your right to protest.
We are mindful that there are some municipalities that still face challenges. We have taken decisive steps to deal with these challenges and continue to work with communities towards finding solutions. In 2014, we introduced the Back to Basics programme to deal with struggling municipalities and their overall performance.
It is in line with the National Development Plan to build a capable state that initiates, supports and sustains growth and development. Back to Basics was introduced following an assessment of the state of local government by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
It highlighted the weakening of institutional abilities of some municipalities, which hampers their ability to fulfil basic responsibilities.
The Back to Basics initiative is already bearing fruit. Municipalities that are being supported through it are responding positively and showing signs of recovery. It has also been able to support the national goal of creating decent living conditions by ensuring that infrastructure is developed at local government level that benefits our people.
We have seen an increase in infrastructure spending on water, roads, electricity and transport. These programmes have created jobs, work opportunities and skills development for unemployed people at local government level. Municipal Infrastructure South Africa has through its capacity building programme trained 400 apprentices in technical field including electrical, plumbing, fitting and turning, millwright as well as bricklaying.
Most of these are expected to qualify as artisans in next year and in 2018. A total of 742 municipal officials have been trained in project management, procurement and tendering.
Des Van Rooyen is the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
