** *UmsebenziOnlineBig.jpg* ** *Umsebenzi Online, Volume 10, No.9, 20 April 2011* ** *In this Issue:*
* SACP Local Government 2011 Election Message Umsebenzi hand __*_Red Alert_**:* *SACP Local Government 2011 Election Message* ** ** ** *FORWARD TO PEOPLE-DRIVEN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT* ** ** *_ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED_*Together, working with our ANC-led government, we have begun to change our country, our communities, and our lives.
15 years ago, the majority of South Africans did not even have elected local government. Municipalities were basically whites-only. Together, in struggle, we have brought local democracy for all.
Millions of houses for the poor have been built. Over 14 million South Africans receive social grants. Today, most people have free basic water and electricity.
*...But we must still do much more*While many of us now have access to housing and services, there are still long waiting lists. Some municipalities are doing good work, some are not. The levels of unemployment and income inequality are unacceptable. Corruption is a scourge.
*Faced with these challenges, the bosses and their media want us to lose heart*
Day in and day out the capitalist bosses and their media spread a message of despair. It's designed to make workers and the poor lose heart.
Yes, there are many challenges -- but the capitalists want us to lose trust in our vote, to lose hope in democracy. They want us to lose confidence in the government we've voted for, and in the organizations we've built in struggle over many years.
They want to distract us from the super-profits they are making. They want us to forget it's their apartheid capitalist economy that's still creating the crises of unemployment, poverty and inequality. They want to divide us. They want us to fight factional battles amongst ourselves. They want us to run after the scraps they toss to us in our villages, townships and squatter camps -- while they continue to live off super-profits in their wealthy suburbs.
Above all, they want us to forget how we once defeated apartheid. It was worker power in factories, farms, mines and shops; it was popular power in our communities that rolled back white minority rule. And now it's worker and popular power that must continue the battle against joblessness, inequality, poverty and the scourge of corruption.
*But how?*
Together, we must build better communities. To do that we must:
* Strengthen local government;
* Democratise local government; and
* Connect our community struggles to the wider struggle to
change our entire society and its economy.
Which is why the SACP says:
**
*_LET US STRENGTHEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT_*
* *Let us put an end to outsourcing core municipal functions to
tenderpreneurs, to profiteers and other vultures --* We must
build, not weaken, the capacity of local government. We must
ensure sustained local skills development for municipal staff
and departments;
* *Let us reinforce the role of the non-profit social economy
sector in municipal services and municipal procurement -
*including through dedicated support to co-operatives, and
other sustainable livelihood activities in our communities;
* *Let us ensure every municipality develops a comprehensive
anti-corruption strategy* -- corruption diverts public
resources into private pockets; corruption is at the root of
many factional squabbles; corruption plays into the hands of
those who want to subvert democracy. Together, we must stamp
out this scourge.
**
*_LET US DEMOCRATISE LOCAL GOVERNMENT_*__
This means:
* Involving *communities in deciding on local development
priorities*. Councillors must be subject to these development
priorities, including in rural areas.
* Holding councillors to the legal requirement of *convening
ward meetings every three months*. At these community meetings
development priorities must be discussed and progress evaluated
**
*_LET US CONNECT OUR COMMUNITY STRUGGLES TO THE WIDER STRUGGLE FOR
DEMOCRACY IN SA_*
Why must the working class and poor still be condemned to live in rural labour reserves, in squatter camps and dormitory townships? We don't just want more delivery scraps tossed into the same unequal spaces. We want to live where there is work, amenities and resources close to where we stay. We want to live in mixed-income and mixed-use communities. We want to end class apartheid in our countryside, towns and cities.
This is why the SACP says:
* We must enforce the ANC's Polokwane conference resolution for
a *halt on the sale of municipal (and other publicly-owned)
land* - unless the sale is in line with progressive Integrated
Development Plans. The selling off of public property to
private speculators and profit-driven "developers" must be
halted. If not, we will continue to have green suburbs for the
rich and over-crowded dormitory townships for the poor.
* We must *connect our local integrated development plans to an
overall new national growth path and industrial policy action
plan -- *with a focus on job creation, decent work and
sustainable livelihoods.
****
*TOGETHER, WE CAN BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES!*
**
*FORWARD TO PEOPLE-DRIVEN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT!*
**
*ON MAY 18 - VOTE ANC!*
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