Date: 11/12/2009
Source: Democratic Alliance
Title: DA: Zille: Extract of a speech by the leader of the DA on municipalities, Midvaal

It is wonderful to be here in Midvaal, the only DA-run municipality in Gauteng. Like DA-run municipalities elsewhere, in comparison with ANC-run towns, it is a model of good governance. This is because the DA governs in terms of the values, principles and policies of the ‘open, opportunity society for all.'

Although there will always be some exceptions, in general the roads in Midvaal are maintained, the refuse is collected on time, services are delivered and finances are sound. Midvaal has received a clean audit report for the last seven years in a row.

But it was not always like this. In 2000, the DA inherited a bankrupt administration, crippled by debt. The roads were riddled with potholes, street lights didn't work, the grass wasn't cut and infrastructure wasn't maintained.

How did the DA turn it around?

A start was to ensure that the right people were appointed in the right positions. Expertise and a commitment to public service were the criteria, not political connections.

Strict financial discipline and credit control was applied from day one. Between 2001 and 2007, payment rates of 100% were achieved - a feat unheard of in most municipalities. Those who couldn't afford to pay were catered for in an indigent policy to ensure that the poorest citizens did not suffer.

We also recognised that the surest way to root out corruption was to allow for transparency and to encourage accountability. To do this, Midvaal took the unprecedented step of establishing a Municipal Public Accounts Committee chaired by the opposition, in this case the ANC.

What the DA has done in Midvaal is not a miracle. It is the product of hard work, appointing the right people and a commitment to open government. It is the same formula we apply wherever we govern.

The ANC has its own formula. It appoints officials on the basis of their political connections, not their expertise, often under the pretext of affirmative action. This practice triggers fights between competing factions for ensuring that their close political associates get into high office so that they can also benefit personally. The goal is personal gain, not the best interests of the public.

Service delivery suffers because of this double whammy. Inept officials and councillors concerned primarily with their political survival and personal enrichment cannot deliver services. It is as simple as that.

To cover up what is really going on, debate in Council is shut down and books are crooked. There is no transparency or public scrutiny. This is the ANC's closed, crony system at work.

We don't have to look far for a municipality which has applied this formula. In ANC-run Emfuleni, down the road from here, we see the embodiment of the closed, crony system.

Since 2001, Emfuleni has had no fewer than 5 Executive Mayors mainly due to political in-fighting and factionalism. When one ANC Mayor goes, the Municipal Manager goes with him, even though the ANC administration remains in place. Varying political connections require an ongoing game of musical chairs, so that the cronies of the new ANC incumbent can be rewarded and their predecessors victimized. And of course, it usually costs the ratepayers millions of Rands in golden handshakes as well.

In this unstable environment, it is no surprise that Emfuleni is in a mess. It has not received a clean audit report since 2000. In contrast to Midvaal, the roads are full of potholes, street lights don't work, grass verges are not cut and the streets are full of litter. Bulk infrastructure is ignored. It took a court interdict to get the municipality to repair and upgrade the dilapidated sewerage works.

My intention is not to boast about our successes, nor is it to delight in the ANC's failures. It is simply to show what can be achieved in government when you get the basics right and what happens when you don't. There is a clear distinction, especially at the local level, between the DA's "regstaat" and the ANC's "magstaat".

More and more people are beginning to see what can be achieved with the right formula. And they understand that political ideology is meaningless when you have no access to basic services.

This is why the DA is winning by-elections from the ANC. It is why we will win more towns and cities across South Africa in 2011.

Midvaal is the only municipality we govern in Gauteng, but not for long. If we keep working hard and governing well, we will make historic gains in this province. Not for the benefit of our members and councillors, but for our citizens who have been denied quality local government for too long.