Des Erasmus
Corruption and ethical failures are directly undermining basic municipal services, ACDP MP and deputy president Wayne Thring said on Saturday during the party’s election manifesto launch.
“Very often there are those who tell [the ACDP] that you cannot legislate morality. Our response is: then do not legislate immorality. Integrity is a service delivery issue,” he said.
The socially conservative minority party enters the 4 November local government election from a small but improved base, after securing about 0.7% of the aggregated national vote and 48 council seats in the 2021 LGE. Its representation in several hung metros subsequently gave it a role in coalition politics.
While it was invited to join the Government of National Unity in 2024, it declined, citing the National Health Insurance and Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill. It also did not support incumbent president Cyril Ramaphosa, saying at the time this was due to “allegations relating to the Phala Phala saga hanging over his head”.
Speaking to supporters at Brentwood Park in Benoni, after being introduced by party president Kenneth Meshoe, Thring said that authority was “a responsibility before it is a privilege”, and that the billions in taxpayer money lost at national, provincial and local level through poor administration, irregular procurement and corruption had a “direct human cost” on citizens.
“[T]hat money is no longer available to fix the pipe that is broken outside somebody’s home… to fix potholes… to restore the electricity reticulation in municipalities… to ensure that medicines are provided in our local government clinics,” he said.
“Our constitution and local government legislation place a clear responsibility on municipalities to provide services sustainably, promote social and economic development, create safe and healthy environments, and to give priority to the basic needs of our communities,” he said.
Thring set out a slate of fixes for failing municipalities that he said were based on Christian values.
He said an ACDP administration would appoint officials on competence rather than patronage and hold them personally answerable for losses.
“South Africa needs municipal managers appointed because they can manage municipalities, engineers appointed because they understand engineering, financial officers appointed because they understand public finance, supply chain officials who understand procurement, and councilors who understand that public office is not an opportunity for self enrichment,” he said.
“We want accounting officers to be held responsible for material irregularities. Where corruption is proven, there must be prosecution and appropriate recovery of losses. We want whistleblowers and forensic officials to be projected,” he said.
He said council meetings should be open and budgets must “return to the basics: water, sanitation, electricity, roads, waste removal, infrastructure maintenance, and public safety”.
He said the water crisis in the country was largely due to failures of management and stewardship.
“Our manifesto therefore commits us to protecting and developing our freshwater resources, holding failing municipalities accountable, employing competent engineers, technicians, plumbers, repairing and faulty missions, removing illegal water connections, acting against sewage pollution, and ensuring that reliable municipal water supplies reach the taps of our residents,” he said.
In the electricity sector, where scores of municipalities face local outages and load reduction even as national load shedding has paused, Thring said the party would push for increased competition and private generation.
“We support greater competition in the electricity market, we support increased renewable generation and greater access to the grid, while using coal as a base load, along with clean coal technology to protect our environment,” he said.
“We support municipalities in good financial standing, purchasing and generating more of their own electricity… We must also insist… on maintaining the infrastructure we already have.”
“A sophisticated energy policy means very little if the transformer at the end of the street has failed,” he said.
He said small and medium enterprises were at “the heart of local economic development”, and that municipalities under the ACDP would cut “unnecessary red tape”.
“Municipalities must create enabling environments for businesses rather than obstacles for businesses to thrive,” he said.
Regarding crime, Thring said municipalities were “not powerless” despite policing being a national function.
He said stronger municipal law enforcement was needed, as were capacitated local courts.
He said the ACDP’s vision and manifesto encompassed a “Christian vision of local government… unapologetic, founded on biblical principles”.
In such an environment, he said, “councilors must not be asking what position can I obtain, but whom can I serve… Municipal managers should not ask, ‘What is my pension going to be like when I retire? But rather, what does the law require of me?’”
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