AFFORDABLE housing, lower municipal rates and the provision of water provision are key issues at the heart of election campaign promises. But only a few politicians actually deliver once in power, warn grassroots organisations who have called for action.
This weekend and tomorrow the EFF, DA and ANC launch their manifestos ahead of the local government elections.
With just five weeks to go before millions of South Africans go to the polls, campaigning is in full force with parties reaching out to communities to outline key issues they promise to deliver, should they take control of a municipality.
All 30 municipalities in the Western Cape have been plagued by poor service delivery protests as residents demand homes, water and an end to ever-increasing rates.
Head of political organising at Ndifuna Ukwazi, Buhle Booi said social housing was a key issue. He warned voters to not be easily swayed by politicians who make empty promises with little action.
The province has a housing backlog of more than half a million, with more than 300 000 of those under the City of Cape Town.
Since last year July, the province has recorded more than 1 300 attempts of land occupation as informal settlements continue to mushroom.
“The majority of our people caught in the grip of poverty stay in informal settlements and unserviced land, they want basic services they have been living without for years,” said Booi.
“We know that Cape Town alone has a housing-database backlog of 360 000 and the majority staying in informal settlements. We need to move beyond the rhetoric of political party manifestos and speak about action and see commitment through actions of these parties in their plans for affordable housing.
“We see the likes of the DA saying they have been advocating for affordable housing and that is comical for a party in government, in the City of Cape Town, to say that while playing a blame game stating it is the fault of Patricia de Lille that there is no land to unlock.
“It is the fault of the ANC failing to unlock land nationally and the DA in Cape Town using land for golf courses and leasing public land and that speaks to skewed priorities of the City of Cape Town.”
Founder of STOP COCT, Sandra Dickson said the issue of ever-increasing municipal bills had become an election issue.
This week the City announced that to date R1.9 billion in debt had been written off to assist consumers struggling to pay rates and electricity and that another R1.8bn was available to assist with debt older than three years, which could be possibly scrapped if customers enter into payment arrangements.
Several protests over the last few months highlighted high electricity prices.
“The perpetual above inflation increases in municipal services over the past decade have made paying these services a major expense in household's budgets. This has reached a crisis point in some households, as choices are made between paying municipal bills, buying electricity or to buy food or pay school fees,” said Dickson.
“The municipal elections are therefore critical and any party contesting should make its policy on the setting of tariffs and service delivery by municipalities clear. A municipality like the City of Cape Town have strayed from delivering services and is run like a for profit business.
“The public is fed up with this status quo. Hence the myriad of new parties and independents standing for council positions. The electorate should read the fine print in manifestos and question their party's stance on the setting of tariffs.”
Political analyst Daniel Silke said these elections would be driven by national issues that have an impacted on local communities.
“I don’t think voters have ever dissected the details of the manifestos issued by political parties as a way of swaying or being a deciding factor on which way they vote,” he said.
“It is rather a sentiment driven practice where people either vote according to their sense of loyalty to a specific party or anger and disappointment at the non-performance of another.
“Having said that, I don't think parties themselves are putting forward policies that speak to the issues of the electorate nor have I seen innovative thinking in terms of new structures or funding models to improve local government.
“What we are seeing is voters voting on national issues rather than those that deal directly with local governments. This will be another local election held on national issues.
“The weakening of infrastructure at a national level has started to affect the bread and butter issues of communities in that basic goods and services have become that much more expensive.”
Another Political analyst, professor Zweli Ndevu said with lockdown affecting the manifesto launches, parties would have to talk about issues rather than rely on the fanfare of big rallies to lure supporters.
“I'm expecting political parties to specifically spend more time on what they offer and why they should be the preferred party to vote for focusing on local issues and concerns.
“There will be no time for grand plans but bread and butter issues. We are not going to see big stadium rallies and a parade of leaders and candidates. Voters at local government elections level can relate to issues better as how their municipality works affects their lives daily.
“So realistic promises of better service delivery, clean up administration, capable and competent personnel will be important. A good track record and improved performance will be the deciding factors in my view,” said Ndevu.