Monday, 31 January 2011 08:25
As the official process for municipal elections in South Africa was put under way by the Independent Electoral Commission early in January, the year is shaping up to become massively important for local government in the country.
The extent of its importance is illustrated in the research on which we report in this issue, which indicates there seems to be a disconnect in the perception of many voters between voting for candidates and political parties and having their interests looked after – the very essence of representative democracy.
This should be a worrying situation for the democratic leadership in the country and for us a nation, as the ever escalating violent protest action over perceived inadequate service delivery at local community level illustrates. There is an urgent need to strengthen the house of democracy in the country.
It needs to happen at a very basic level, as the research into those protests has illustrated. The most common reason for the protests is shown to be at the level of the most basic of human needs: decent shelter!
If a properly functioning representative democracy is to survive in our country, the need to come to grips with the huge challenge of adequate access to housing has moved beyond the level of the urgent into the realm of the absolutely essential.
A massive responsibility will rest on the shoulders of the soon to be elected local government councillors to ensure that going forward, their performance as elected representatives will be experienced by those who vote for them, to be responsive to their needs and deliver in terms of those needs.
If we fail to repair that disconnect between going to the polls and getting proper service delivery and responsive local government, stability will not be established at local community level.
As one expert warns in our report on the protests, the government may be forced to rely increasingly on action by the security forces to enforce stability a là the final days of the erstwhile apartheid state.
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- 05/08/2011 09:07 - Editor's note
- 10/06/2011 09:30 - Editor's Note
- 30/03/2011 13:08 - Not merely local elections
- 24/11/2010 08:01 - Editor's Note
- 13/10/2010 12:26 - Keep The Momentum Going
- 28/07/2010 06:41 - Editor's Note Issue 32
- 27/05/2010 09:51 - Editor's Note
- 17/03/2010 07:47 - Editor's Note
Piet Coetzer
Editor's note
Profile
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