By KEVIN MILEHAM
Should leave to appeal in the United Peoples’ Movement case against Makana Municipality not be granted, or should the appeal be lost, the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) would have no alternative but to dissolve the council in terms of section 139 of the Constitution of South Africa. Such a dissolution would immediately trigger fresh elections, to be held within 90 days of the dissolution, to elect new councillors.
The Democratic Alliance stands firmly behind the judgement ordering the dissolution of council. But a few facts need to be put on the table:
1. The judge ordered the Provincial Executive to dissolve Council. She did not order that it was dissolved. In other words, the judgement requires a decision of the PEC, and until that decision is made, the Council continues to exist. Judge Stretch did this deliberately to avoid any allegation of judicial overreach (allegations which have been forthcoming, anyway). The PEC has not made such a decision.
2. If leave to appeal is granted, the order of the Grahamstown High Court would be suspended, pending the outcome of the appeal process, which effectively means that the Council would continue as normal until such time as the appeal judgement is delivered.
3. As things currently stand, even if the DA members of council were all to resign immediately, the Council would still quorate and be able to take decisions, without the oversight or opposition of those DA members. All such a resignation would do, is create vacancies for the DA to fill and provide more opportunity for ANC mismanagement and corruption.
4. The DA has escalated this matter in writing to Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the national minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, in terms of section 139(7) of the Constitution, which provides that where a PEC cannot or does not act to intervene in a municipality, the national executive (cabinet) must. We believe that there is an obligation on the minister to take the necessary steps to resolve this situation.
DA councillors represent the voters of Makana. If they resign, and leave Council to the devices of the ANC and EFF, they would be abrogating their responsibilities to those voters. At least while they are there, they can in some way temper the worst excesses, and provide input and oversight to try and rectify the situation. They also have the ability to drive local issues (water, streetlights, electricity outages etc.) while they sit on council – once they no longer do so, they don’t have a platform to engage the municipal administration anymore. There have been some calls for a community-based party to take Makana forward. Historically, such parties are generally a “flash in the pan”, around for an election or two as the ego trip of one or two individuals, before withering and dying. They are typically less resourced, less knowledgeable and less able to respond to or escalate issues to provincial and/or national government. Makana has had its share of these in the past. Very rarely does any community-based party bring about real change to their municipality. Rather work with us, to achieve the Makana you want to see.
One thing the DA does, better than any other political party in South Africa, and arguably better than most political parties around the world, is to hold its public representatives accountable. Our councillors, members of the provincial legislatures and members of parliament undergo rigorous performance assessments across a number of performance indicators. Non-performers are assisted to improve, and if they fail to do so, are replaced with better candidates. This is to ensure that we continuously improve, and put forward the best people to represent the electorate. The DA, before every election, puts out a call for civic-minded, committed individuals who share our values and principles to make themselves available for public office. The applications for 2021 (and, if need be, any by-election in Makana) are already open. Frequently, those who shout the loudest and criticize the DA the most, are the most reticent to help us improve the calibre of our public representatives.
The DA is not perfect. But it can be argued that we are held to a much higher standard than other South African political parties – often unfairly so. Gareth van Onselen, writing for BusinessLive this week, pointed out how the media are complicit in shaping a particular perception of the DA. What we do, is learn from our mistakes, and take steps to rectify them. Such was the case with our 2019 election review, which looked at why we had not received the votes we expected, and what we needed to do to turn that situation around. Among the recommendations which the report made, and which were approved by the party’s Federal Council, were to call a policy conference and an early elective congress. We go to our policy conference in early April, and a new party leadership will be elected at our Federal Congress at the end of May. We are renewing our party, with a reinvigorated leadership, and a clear message and vision for South Africa.
The only way a municipality like Makana can be saved, is if the voters reject ANC cronyism, corruption and incompetence, and vote for a party with a track record of good governance. It should come as no surprise that DA-led municipalities are the best performing across all indicators – service delivery, audit reports, financial management and social services. That is not to suggest that there is no room for improvement. On the contrary, we still have much to do.
A vote to strengthen the Democratic Alliance is a vote for a better Makana and a better South Africa. It is often said that “All that evil needs to succeed, is for good people to do nothing.” This is equally true in politics. Voter apathy is the downfall of good governance. We need to come together, hold our leaders accountable, and ensure that every South African gets the government we need and deserve.
- Kevin Mileham is the DA’s Frontier Constituency Leader and Shadow Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy.
