President Cyril Ramaphosa urges political parties to co-work during this local government elections, to provide service delivery. He emphasised that these campaigns is not about topping votes, but to get sense of societal needs.
“We have just finished the final voter registration weekend ahead of the local government elections on 1 November.
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“As I met with residents in parts of Gauteng and Mpumalanga over the weekend, what struck me most was the importance of local government being accessible, visible and above all, reachable. This is particularly important when service delivery challenges, disruptions, or failures occur,” Ramaphosa said.
He said citizens often complain that in the lead up to elections, ward councillors, candidates, and officials are energetic, interacting with communities and listening to their concerns. However, once elections have passed, they either disappear or it becomes difficult to reach them.
Ramaphosa added, numerous people in the communities he visited told him that municipalities are slow to attend to their problems, don’t keep communities updated about disruptions, and when services are cut off for non-payment, fail to inform them of their options in a manner or language they understand.
“A case in point is that of electricity. This has become the foremost pressing issue for communities around the country.
“Speaking to people in areas in Soweto, it was evident that anger and frustration over having their electricity cut-off could have been avoided had thoroughgoing interactions with communities been embarked upon around issues such as illegal electricity connections, the vandalisation of electricity substations and the benefits of a prepaid electricity system.
“Many people also felt that they were being unfairly penalised because of the non-payment of others,” the President said.
The president said, over the last 20 years, they have provided a set of free basic services to millions of poor and indigent families. But for services to be sustainable, it is necessary that residents pay for what they use above the free basic amount.
What he found is that many communities were not aware of exactly how much free water and electricity is provided to poor households.
“Following engagement with numerous community leaders on how the challenges that people face regarding electricity can be resolved and how people can also work with municipalities and Eskom to resolve the problem, I found a profound level of understanding and willingness to pay for services that are utilised,” he said.
