What was meant to be a debate on good governance as the foundation of local government in the National Council of Provinces degenerated into a “who governs better” spat across political parties.
The plenary, on Tuesday afternoon, was scheduled to hear from various members on the role of ethical leadership in restoring public trust, but the debate soon turned into a campaign launchpad ahead of the local government elections.
Democratic Alliance MP Dennis Ryder set the tone, hailing his DA-run Midvaal municipality where he lives as a model of good governance.
He said the municipality is renowned for financial sustainability, good governance and a constructive relationship between residents and the council.
“Where I live, local government works,” he said. However, he questioned why his experience was different to that of other South Africans.
“The answer is simply that there is a culture of ethical leadership which has built up a relationship of trust between the residents and the council.
“People are willing to pay for the services that they receive, because they know that the money will not be wasted on lavish excesses for politicians, but will be reinvested into the community’s needs.”
The DA MP sought to make a comparison between the DA-run Cape Town and the ANC-led Johannesburg.
“Here in Cape Town it sometimes feels like a different world from my Gauteng home. Johannesburg, by contrast, has become synonymous with instability, coalition collapses, financial strain, deteriorating service delivery and a growing sense that the city is losing control of its own systems.”
While Ryder conceded that despite Cape Town’s imperfections, with informal settlements serving as a harsh reminder of the inequality facing the country, he maintained that the effort to improve lives is there.
“The city spends the majority of its capital budget on traditionally poor areas, in places where development is needed. Can they do more? Yes. Do they have enough budget? No. Again, these are not cities operating under different laws.
“They are operating under different standards of leadership. The difference is governance, more specifically, the difference is ethical leadership.”
Gauteng infrastructure development and Cogta MEC Jacob Mamabolo responded to Ryder, calling for the debate to be recentred on what it was intended for.
“As a province, we take great concern when a debate on a motion such as this starts with a political party celebrating and claiming easy victories and grandstanding, instead of focusing on what we understand to be the debate which is essentially about good governance, ethical leadership and restoring public trust.”
Mamabolo insisted that the mudslinging was not the correct approach and would not assist in achieving the ideals as set out in the theme of the debate.
“Instead of grandstanding and cheap political scoring, let us all join the process led by the minister to improve local government and make sure that all of us make constructive contributions to improving the white paper so that we can achieve the objectives that the NCOP is debating today and that we can improve the quality of life of the people.”
However, the plea fell on deaf ears as a pumped-up Western Cape premier Alan Winde took to the podium armed with a graphic in an attempt to prove that Cape Town and the Western Cape were miles ahead in terms of achieving service delivery targets.
“It is a great topic because we have a local government election later in the year. What does an ethical, capable government look like? How do the residents experience its services? What are the required foundations of upstanding leadership? The question always looms large in any meeting of our Western Cape leadership.”
Winde described good governance as “just what we do”, calling it evident in the statistics.
We cannot define clean audits using checkboxes. It is very alarming that we mention that residents have to walk through sewerage in Emfuleni municipality yet the same is happening in the City of Cape Town.
— EFF MP Mathapelo Siwisa
“I’m going to start off with our province. We spent 10 years making sure that good governance is at the heart of every single thing we do and that’s why every entity and every department in our province now gets an unqualified audit,” said Winde.
“When it comes to our apex priority which is growth and jobs, for example, by far, we have the best results for unemployment, we’re sitting at 18% and our next target is 10%. Cape Town leads on housing development by far, because if you make a habit of good governance you can get to service delivery.
“If you look at the quality-of-life index, there is every single indicator here that the Western Cape is by far the leader. Access to piped water, we are by far the leader, second to us is Gauteng but of course, there is no water in those taps. Access to electricity, basic sanitation, refuse removal, medical aid coverage, the Western Cape excels. This comes from getting the basics right.”
EFF MP Mathapelo Siwisa called out the DA’s “hypocrisy” in bringing about the debate topic, when it faces “glaring governance challenges and contradictions”.
“This topic of debate is sponsored by the Democratic Alliance, a party which governs by prioritising leafy white suburbs, while treating townships like dumping grounds for human dignity.
“We know this to be true, as our people in Khayelitsha, Philippi, Langa and Gugulethu, are living in squalor, sharing one communal toilet among 20 families.
“Our people face restricted water access and are crammed into matchbox houses with yards so small that they cannot even extend their homes to accommodate their growing families. The streets of the townships run with sewage, creating a health hazard, while refuse remains uncollected and police visibility is non-existent.”
However, Siwisa said she noted Ryder’s comments on the importance of a clean audit as an indicator of good governance, but called on more introspection from the DA’s standing on the matter.
“We cannot define clean audits using checkboxes. It is very alarming that we mention that residents have to walk through sewerage in Emfuleni municipality yet the same is happening in the City of Cape Town.
“You cannot define good governance based on who is in government in which municipality. Good governance should be governance that ensures service delivery for all and not be selective on which municipality they are in.”
She took a swipe at the government of national unity in the face of the DA and ANC having a go at each other about who governs better, calling it a marriage of convenience.
“The so-called GNU has further deprived our people of service delivery. Public value has been sacrificed on the altar of political opportunism, and policies meant to uplift the poor remain gathering dust because ethical leadership has been replaced by the greed of a few.
“The GNU has turned its back on our people, choosing instead to protect the interest of the elite. Is this leadership ethical? The answer is no.”
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