Seizing democracy is a responsibility, not a right

Democracy is a living ideal and it needs constant engagement. Without this commitment to engagement, we will be left with a country governed by a powerful minority.

There is a tagline that has risen to fore – Democracy Dies in Darkness.

It is best known for being on the masthead of The Washington Post but it might as well be the tagline of any democracy that wants to stay open and free.

Its deeper meaning is that where there is a lack of accountability, transparency and public participation – the three pillars fundamental for a thriving democracy – then there is a lack of democracy.

OUTA, for whom I work, like many other organisations and people who value a free, fair and democratic South Africa, has invested thousands of man-hours to protect democracy.

An example of where this came to the fore was during the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Here, everyone moved together in the interest of justice and the protection of democracy.

Granted, the State Capture Commission certainly had its faults most notably the lack of any serious consequence for those that were exposed, but it did enough to remove various bad actors out of positions of power, even temporarily, in order to disrupt their cabal networks.

Nevertheless, in South Africa we can see the impact of a democracy under pressure. The data tells us that.

Besides the obvious fragmentation of political parties which has placed the country in new territory, one of the best trackers of discontent is from the municipal data company Municipal IQ, which tracks various data points involving local government.

On average, over the last decade the country experiences one form of service delivery protest every two days.

That is an astounding number.

This can be juxtaposed against a decade of auditor-general findings into local government which really needs no repeating again. We all know the situation is dire.

However, one of my favourite data sets is the annual State of Local Government  Finances and Financial Management Report published by National Treasury.

The latest available report is for the financial year 2021/22. I have been tracking this report since 2009.

It states the following:

“The local government system is affected by the recurring challenges of institutional ineffectiveness and poor governance which has a negative impact on the quality of services delivered and the financial health of municipalities.  At the centre of this is the fragile and distressed political and administrative leadership.”

Unless we arrest poor leadership, poor governance and institutional ineffectiveness the number of municipalities under financial distress, which ultimately impacts the quality of services delivered which is a direct reflection on the health of our democracy, will continue to grow.

The same 2021/22 report also revealed that there were 38 municipalities in that period under review which were under some form of Section 139 Intervention.

Section 139 of the South African Constitution allows the provincial government to intervene in a municipality in certain circumstances.

Furthermore, in the same report  during that reportable year, of the municipalities deemed facing financial distress, 64 of those municipalities had acting municipal managers.

Leadership matters.

Just to showcase the crisis of financial distress in municipalities, in 2009/10 there were 64 municipalities under distress. There are now more than 160 on this list. That’s an increase of 150%.

But here is the part many of us miss  – we all want the same thing namely prosperity, safety, clean environments and an efficient purpose-built state.

Whether you lean to the left, to the right, either side of centre or dead-pinned in the middle – with each position carrying its variety of solutions to achieve prosperity, safety, a clean environment and an efficient state – we still all want the same thing.

This should never, but often does, get lost in the discourse.

What I truly treasure about where South Africa is right now, is that the future is ours to create.

Few generations get the honour to play a pivotal role in defining a country.

For much of the West and Old Worlds like Russia and China, the systems of governance and public participation, or the lack thereof, are entrenched.

Ours is not.

For example, most South Africans have no idea what an Integrated Development Plan is and even fewer know how to comment on it and when to comment. We need to develop this process to make it easy and understandable.

Furthermore, very few South Africans know that a mayor is compelled to publish a public monthly report detailing the health of the municipality and few know that most council and committee meetings are open to the public. Every effort must be made to make the public aware of this.

And even fewer are aware that Section 75 of the Municipal Finance Management Act prescribes what must be made public via the website. This should be demanded.

If we just get these simple examples right – we are moving forward towards building our uniquely South African brand of governance that is accountable, transparent and that values public participation.

We are the generation that can make the difference.

But to do this everyone needs to play their part.

I have attended various strategy sessions on how best to get people involved in local government.

And I have come to realise that the future of local government is not adversarial by default between community organisations and the local administration, although this has a place, but instead it should be an opportunity to collaborate, to cooperate and to communicate. At OUTA we have called it “co-governance”.

Local governments need to be more inclusive of active community organisations and allow them the space to provide civic oversight and various inputs and activities required for the healthy running of a local government

Democracy is a living ideal and it needs constant engagement. Without this commitment to engagement, we will be left with a country governed by a powerful minority. And we will slip into darkness.

Does that sound familiar?

By Jonathan Erasmus, Project Manager Community Action Network