President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on registered voters to participate in Wednesday’s Local Government Elections, saying their votes can help build better communities and strengthen local government.
“The voters of South Africa have an unprecedented breadth of choice of candidates and parties. However, when we vote on Wednesday, let us strive for better, safer, cleaner and more prosperous communities. Let us vote for progress and development,” the President said in his weekly newsletter to the nation on Monday.
President Ramaphosa said the elections, scheduled for Wednesday, 4 November, were among the biggest electoral contests in the country’s democratic history, with 546 political parties and nearly 137 000 candidates contesting.
“At a time when the political space is narrowing across many parts of the world, democracy in South Africa continues to evolve and mature. We can see this, for example, in the strong participation of women in the electoral process and the proliferation of independent candidates,” he said.
The President said South Africa could be proud that every election since 1994 had been free and fair, adding that public trust in the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) remained high.
He urged political parties, candidates and citizens to ensure that the elections were not marred by violence or intimidation.
“Over the past few months, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been conducting risk assessments, operational planning and simulation exercises. It says that it is ready to ensure Voting Day takes place peacefully and safely,” he said.
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President Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of local government in improving the quality of life of citizens, noting that municipalities were responsible for providing essential services, including water, sanitation and electricity.
He said these services were not only important for communities but also formed the foundation of a thriving economy, as businesses invested in areas where services were reliable and affordable, infrastructure was maintained and communities were stable and safe.
The President said the newly elected leadership of the country's eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities would assume office at a time when government was undertaking a reset of the local government system.
The Revised White Paper on Local Government, officially launched last month, proposes reforms aimed at strengthening municipalities' ability to fulfil their responsibilities, improving efficiency and ensuring accountability.
Among the priorities is placing municipalities on a more sustainable financial footing through improved financial management, better revenue collection, reducing losses and tighter spending on priorities.
“One of the most important developments is that revenues from the sale of electricity and water will be ring-fenced to be reinvested in maintaining critical infrastructure. This will ensure that our infrastructure is brought back up to standard,” the President said.
The reforms also propose compulsory licensing requirements for water and electricity providers to ensure that service providers meet minimum standards of competence.
Where municipalities are unable to perform particular responsibilities, these should be assigned to another sphere of government or entity capable of carrying them out.
President Ramaphosa said the White Paper further recommended measures to professionalise municipalities and strengthen their administrative capacity, with appointments based on qualifications and competence.
He said weaknesses in the current local government system had created opportunities for corruption and patronage, including collusion between municipal officials and businesspeople to secure tenders for substandard services or services that were never delivered.
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He also raised concern about violence linked to contestations over power and access to resources in local government, including disruptions to council meetings and the killings of ward candidates, councillors and municipal officials.
“Sadly, what is supposed to be a democratic contest for the opportunity to serve communities has in some cases become a transactional arrangement. Some councillors who are ‘bought’ by businesspeople often put matters of procurement above the needs of our people,” President Ramaphosa said.
Government, he noted, was working to address these practices, but citizens also had a responsibility to elect people capable of serving their communities.
He added that municipal failures had contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance, describing the elections as an opportunity to reverse this trend and build local government as an instrument for development.
“Working together, as an active citizenry, we can make South Africa better. Through our votes, we can help ensure that local government is able to fulfil the promise that our Constitution has made to our people,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za
