With South Africa’s next local government elections scheduled for 4 November, there are very practical reasons for every citizen to pay attention to what the candidates are saying, and then to make sure they vote.
Please note this is not an appeal to vote for any particular political party. It is an appeal to vote for competent local government.
For too long, municipal politics in SA has been treated as something separate from the things that really matter to households and businesses. It is not. The quality of local government affects the water that should come out of our taps, the electricity we receive (or dont), the roads we drive on, the reliability of refuse collection and sewage systems, the condition of our parks and public spaces, the efficiency of planning departments and, increasingly, the financial burden placed on residents through rates, tariffs and other charges.
It also affects something even more fundamental: whether our towns and cities are places where businesses want to invest, people can find jobs and families want to live.
We all know that SA urgently needs economic growth and employment opportunities, and our municipalities should be among the engines driving both. However to do this, they need to move beyond simply administering services and become active participants in attracting investment, developing local economies and creating employment. And that requires a very different standard of local government from what most ratepayers in SA currently experience.
We need city councillors who understand that being elected is not simply about representing a political party. It is about taking responsibility for the performance of the municipality. We need council employees who are properly qualified, professionally managed and held accountable. We need people with the skills to manage complex organisations, infrastructure projects and substantial budgets - and with the honesty and determination to put the interests of residents ahead of political patronage or personal gain.
Most importantly, we need municipalities that actually work, and that means getting the basics right first: maintaining infrastructure before it fails, repairing what is broken, delivering reliable water, electricity and sanitation, keeping streets and public spaces clean and safe, processing planning and building applications efficiently and collecting revenue fairly.
It also means managing municipal finances responsibly, reducing waste and ensuring that the money that residents pay in rates and tariffs is used as effectively as possible. Borrowing can have a legitimate role in financing productive infrastructure, but simply accumulating debt without creating the economic capacity to repay it is not a sustainable solution.
And third, it means making it easier, not more difficult, for businesses to establish themselves, expand and employ people.
Every local authority should know what its economic strengths are, where investment opportunities lie and what infrastructure or regulatory obstacles are preventing businesses from taking advantage of them. It should actively market those opportunities and provide investors with the certainty and efficiency they need.
All of this matters enormously to the property market. Few people would deliberately choose to buy or rent a home in an area where infrastructure is visibly deteriorating, municipal services are unreliable, roads are falling apart, public spaces are neglected and unemployment is rising. Conversely, well-managed towns and cities with sound infrastructure, effective services, economic opportunity and attractive environments are naturally more attractive places in which to live, work and invest.
Municipal performance therefore has a direct bearing on the desirability of a town or city and, ultimately, on property demand and values. We have several very clear and well known examples of this in SA, and the November elections will give the residents of those municipalities that are not being run as they should a golden opportunity to demand something better of those who are supposed to represent them.
So before you cast your vote, I urge you to look beyond the slogans and party colours. Look at the people standing for election in your municipality. Question whether they have the capability, experience, integrity and determination to make a meaningful difference. Ask whether they understand the responsibilities of local government and whether they have credible ideas for improving services, fixing infrastructure, managing finances and creating an environment in which businesses can grow and jobs can be created.
And then, most importantly, go and vote for the candidates you genuinely believe have the best chance of making your municipality work better. Because local government is not someone else’s problem. It is the government closest to our homes, our businesses and our everyday lives, and if we want towns and cities that provide opportunity, protect property investment and offer the quality of life that all South Africans deserve, we must do our part to ensure better local government, right now.
