Given the absolute mess the country is in, the public may be forgiven for being somewhat blasé about the chicanery going on in local government, especially in the big metros. Same old story, some would say.
That would be a mistake. Municipalities are at the coalface of service delivery and are crucial to economic growth, and therefore the creation of jobs.
To the person in the street, local government is infinitely more important than the goings-on in the national parliament. It interacts directly with the public.
It's often when a local council is doing its job properly that people have a sense the government is working for them.
But that has not always been the case, especially in these past few days. What's been happening in the metros has been nothing short of scandalous. It's incredible that there's no-one to intervene or any recourse for the public against such thoughtless behaviour.
The government seems to be standing on the sidelines, cheering. Unfortunately, parties tend to appoint their worst people to serve on local councils.
Some can hardly run a tap. One often has to squirm in embarrassment as they dance and holler at the top of their voices in a place which should be accorded some respect and decorum. They have been sent there to do the people’s business, not to muck around.
One wonders whether there's any self-reflection there. No shame, no embarrassment. Maybe they know no better. They probably got where they are by shouting slogans, which is why they're singing and dancing instead of serving.
They get amply paid and, unlike the rest of us, they don't have to show any result or account to anyone. The voters are far from the minds of the so-called public representatives, who seem more interested in divvying up the spoils among themselves.
But it's the cynicism of the ANC that’s breathtaking. The party is bringing our discredited democracy into further disrepute.
Having tried to install its own mayors, and failed, the ANC has now, with the EFF in tow, decided on a cynical strategy to elect lickspittles from the smaller parties as so-called mayors.
These people may be wearing the mayoral chain, but they're not in any way in charge. They're hostage to the ANC.
The strategy is obvious: it wants to rule from the shadows. Power without responsibility.
After several failed attempts, it succeeded in dislodging the DA mayor in Johannesburg, replacing her with someone from a party which many residents didn't know existed.
The man does not only look out of place, he's also clearly out of his depth. But skill or competence is not the criterion. He's putty in nefarious hands.
Pretoria, the seat of the government, became a laughing stock. Had fate not intervened, the city would have ended up with a fraudster as mayor. Did the ANC see any reason for a public mea culpa for such immoral and deceitful behaviour? No, it simply moved on to the next target.
And so the party danced again this week — it always does — after claiming another DA scalp in Ekurhuleni. And another sycophant installed.
The ANC has been ably assisted in its rampage by the DA leaders, who seem to think that since they have most seats in these metros, the smaller parties are obliged to bend a knee to them
The ANC has been ably assisted in its rampage by the DA leaders, who seem to think that since they have most seats in these metros, the smaller parties are obliged to bend a knee to them.
Such intransigence has driven these tiny parties into the ANC’s grateful embrace. If you don't have the votes to rule on your own, you negotiate in good faith.
There are also allegations of huge sums of money changing hands to “buy” some councillors to vote for certain candidates. It’s a den of thieves and, unfortunately, there's no saviour to eject them.
What’s also worrying is that what's happening in the metros could be a harbinger of things to come. The romance between the ANC and the EFF in local government could be a trial run for co-operation in national government after next year’s election.
The ANC knows it’s going to lose its majority, and it’s therefore desperately on the lookout for allies to stay in power. So what's happening in local government could be a foretaste of what could be our reality after the elections next year.
After campaigning to keep the ANC out of power in the local government elections two years ago, the EFF have done a volte-face.
It must have finally dawned on them that winning power on their own is a fool’s errand, and that the best option was probably to hang on to the ANC’s coat tails.
An ANC-EFF coalition could prove a toxic mix for the country. The ANC has been pretty bad and has left the country in dire straits, but such a coalition would be worse.
South Africa's problem is — and has always been — it's electoral system. It was designed by politicians to serve their own interest.
Supporters of the current system argue that it protects smaller parties, which a constituency-based system would not. But some of these parties are one-man shows. Apart from being a source of reliable income for their leaders, who are MPs, of what benefit are they to voters?
For their behaviour to change for the better, we need an electoral system that will make politician accountable to voters.
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