How those elected to office go on to address the concerns of service delivery is important

DURING an interview with the BBC yesterday I was asked what made this year's local government elections different from the one we had in 2006.

My response was that, unlike in 2006, the people's voices were more strident in their demand for improved service delivery and access to basic services such as water, electricity and housing.

What then becomes important is how those elected to office go on to address these concerns.

It is generally agreed that local government is the coalface of delivery when it comes to the basic needs of the citizenry.

Given our country's history and the disparate levels of development, this presents a major challenge for this level of government.

As ANC president Jacob Zuma has pointed out, the effects of apartheid are usually sharply felt at this level - where race continues to blatantly coincide with inequality.

If we agree that democracy cannot flourish under such conditions - we therefore also agree that it is at this level that the prospects of democracy are minimal.

So the challenge is for those in power to work hard toward creating conditions in which those who continue to be marginalised can also enjoy the fruits of our democracy.

Having listened to the various political parties during their campaigns, it is now important to take stock and assess whether they will live up to this challenge.

In doing so it is also important to assess and quantify the challenges that local government faces as part of the national agenda to build an equitable democratic society.

A recent report on municipalities revealed that most of them are dysfunctional, lack effective financial control mechanisms and are held back by corruption, a lack of skills and accountability as well as narrow revenue bases.

In his speech during the ANC's Siyanqoba rally in Joburg last Sunday Zuma outlined the party's strategy to redress this situation.

According to the strategy, the ANC plans to (among other things):

• Build systems to accelerate quality service delivery in municipalities;
• Deal with corruption and maladministration;
• Ensure that councillors are more accountable to communities;
• Professionalise municipalities through employing qualified and experienced personnel;
• Improve national and provincial policy, support and oversight to local government; and
• Strengthen partnerships between local government, communities and civil society.

These are indeed noble interventions that, if effectively implemented, will go a long way to dealing with some of the inefficiencies in municipalities.

But their effectiveness can be enhanced if they adhere to a key tenet of democracy - public participation. Those in power must not try to do things for people but with the people.

If those voted into power agree that democracy is about creating a more inclusive society, based on mutual accountability, they must encourage active public participation.

They must do so because active public participation also leads to the development of a confident citizenry that can act on its values and interests.

It is through active participation that the citizenry can also rid itself of feelings of powerlessness and dependency.

In this regard the ANC-led government must be commended for coming up with the ward committee system in municipalities.

Comprising members of diverse interests within communities, the ward committees are supposed to serve as an official link between communities and ward councillors by identifying community needs and putting them on the council's agenda.

But research has shown that most of these structures are hobbled by several issues, including tension between them and ward councillors; and claims of political interference in the picking of ward committee members.

In terms of the arrangement, ward councillors are supposed to chair the ward committees meetings. But recent research by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa found that this hardly happens.

The feeling within communities is that councillors do not take the ward committees seriously.

The issue of alleged political interference in the composition of the ward committees is an indictment on those in power.

It is essentially part of the tendency, for example, within the ANC that only those who are politically aligned to it can contribute towards the building of democratic structures.

This, as Idasa has pointed out, leads to a situation where political affiliation and the desire to control such structures take precedence over fair representation and broader public participation.

Unfortunately, such tendencies inhibit democracy.

As a way forward, it important that those in governance after yesterday's elections - including the Democratic Alliance - deal with these impediments to this country's democratic maturity.