Navigate The Local Government Elections 2021 was the theme for a recent webinar orchestrated by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).
Host for the evening was journalist Stephen Grootes and special guests included Dr Ralph Mathekga, political analyst, acclaimed author and News24 columnist; Nompumelelo Runji, thought leader, author, and founder and CEO of Critical ThinkAR; and Wayne Sussman, Daily Maverick election analyst.
Grootes referred to the upcoming local elections as the elections most parties didn’t want to have, explaining we were in the middle of a pandemic, the economy wasn’t great, and it was a time when people were a lot angrier than they were two years ago. These conditions have made for a more challenging political terrain than has been for previous elections.
He posed different questions to the delegates, who answered based on their expertise in specific areas. One of the questions centred on former City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s new party, ActionSA. Mashaba, who recently stepped down as mayor, recently expressed in the SAJBD’s The Great Debate, that he had unfinished business in the political arena.
Runji commented on Mashaba’s current political strategy, which she said was targeted and involved going into communities. She said she believed it would be interesting to see how well he does in the elections. Sussman said he believed Mashaba had made a calculated gamble in introducing the new party during local elections. “Usually ‘new kids on the block’ in politics debut in the national elections.”
A need for accountability – Nompumelelo Runji
Certain of Grootes’ questions were more heated than others. One of these, “Why are things so bad?”, put forward to Runji.
Runji answered, “The first answer I would give would be corruption but that would be too simplistic.”
She said the Auditor-General reports of the past few years have revealed a thread that runs through different issues, and this is a skills mismatch in the employment of officials.
She also spoke of ideology and ‘chess moves’, and failure to adhere to financial governance practices. “There also needs to be more accountability. We shouldn’t want five years down the line before questioning decisions made months earlier. It is also difficult to go through the discipline chain to get a government official fired for flouting regulations.”
She explained there was also more of an emphasis on party dynamics than delivering services.
Grootes also asked Runji whether she believed the local elections were being fought around issues of service delivery or identity.
“It’s not an either/or situation,” said Runji.
“There is a great divide between those at the top who have a lot, who are reaping the dividends of democracy, and those with very little. For most people, however, when one talks about good governance, this is a quality of life thing for them.”
Coming changes in the political terrain were hinted at by a poll on the evening, in which 42% indicated they would be voting for a different party than they had in the most recent election.
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