Focus on local government is what these polls are about

Amid a whirlwind of political noise, it’s easy to overlook the purpose of the 1 November elections.

They are local government elections. Nothing else. What you should be voting for is to improve the standard of municipal services. These include more reliable water and electricity supply, fewer potholes, cleaner safer streets and so on.

Yet the two major parties are in the news for different reasons, none of which is, on the surface, connected to municipal service delivery.

On the ANC side, we have “war veterans” taking ministers hostage, demanding individual payouts of more than R4 million each from a bankrupt government run by a party which cannot pay its staff.

On the DA side, there has been outrage about election posters blamed for rekindling racial tensions which flared in Phoenix near Durban during July’s deadly riots. And, more than a year after John Vuli Gate challenge music videos started going viral, DA leader John Steenhuisen attracted some publicity when singing and dancing to the music.

What has any of this got to do with municipal service delivery? Should it affect the way you vote on 1 November?

Arguably, the ANC’s financial woes, as a party and in government, indicate incompetence. And this is reflected in its local government track record. Indeed, the dire and worsening state of municipalities is well documented.

This week, News24’s Out of Order index added another 43 municipalities to the list of those facing collapse. This brings the near-collapse total to 107 out of 257.

Financial disarray is the ANC’s trademark. You see financial mismanagement in everything the ANC touches, at every level of government. It translates into potholes and rutted roads, water running in the streets, rickety electricity networks, garbage piling up and urban decay.

If you see all this and you still vote ANC, you are delaying the recovery of your municipality and of the country. ANC mismanagement is collapsing local governments.

By contrast, “the highest scoring municipalities on News24’s Out of Order index are governed by the DA”. You can check out this stuff on any reliable source, including a string of auditorgeneral reports.

People may have good reason to criticise the Phoenix posters, which went up after sustained race-baiting in the area by the EFF and the ANC. But the since-removed posters should not be an election issue.

Residents want better service, which can be achieved through a change in government, starting at municipal level.

For 27 years, the ANC has shown it cannot deliver proper services. It can’t get rid of incompetents and crooks. Most are merely recycled, redeployed or promoted.

The ANC can be removed via the ballot box. Remember, the elections are not about the Phoenix posters, or John Vuli videos, or war vet hostage dramas, or any other distracting news.

Don’t pick on extraneous factors as reasons not to vote. Focus on local government. That’s what this is about. It is a chance for you to change local government for the better.