South Africa: Time for the Ruling Party to Pay Its Debt to History

Photo: Supplied
ANC flag (file photo).

Alexandra, Kliptown and Sharpeville - three names that ring with resistance and pride in South African liberation history. Yet despite their historical importance, these are neglected places in 2019.


In the build-up to the history-making 1994 elections Nelson Mandela campaigned using the slogan of "free water, electricity, education and housing for all", but in 2019 this is still a dream for most.

In his reply to the debate on the state of the nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa invoked the spirit of the Freedom Charter, reminding citizens of how it was adopted more than half a century ago as a document with "our shared vision of a just and equitable South Africa."

Ramaphosa said the document - which underpins the Constitution and, he claims, the National Development Plan (NDP) - was drawn up at a "time when a majority of South Africans lived under conditions of repression, where their rights were denied and their opportunities for economic advancement were deliberately curtailed."

Reality paints bleaker picture


There has been a serious challenge in providing services and dealing with impoverishment, particularly in Sharpeville, Alexandra and Kliptown - townships which boast a rich history of resistance and political legacy.




Alexandra was also the source of protests between April and June, and a shutdown was staged around issues including what some described as "the mushrooming of illegal structures", a lack of development and poor roads, blocked sewers and potholes.


Emfuleni - under which Sharpeville falls - was excluded from the Auditor-General's 2017/2018 analysis because the audit outcome had not been finalised on time owing to safety concerns in the area.

Past brighter than present?


The bus boycott campaigns in Alexandra in the 1940s and 1950s had a profound effect on Mandela, who was living there at the time. "In a small way, I had departed from my role as an observer and become a participant. I found that to march with one's people was exhilarating and inspiring," he said of that time.




Basics lacking

In Kliptown, the problems run beyond the aesthetics. The township has a lack of access to basic services that improve lives. Kliptown has been in existence since 1904, which means it's a terrible shame that even today it still has no library, clinic or school. Yet two huge multimillion-rand towering presences, Walter Sisulu Square and Soweto Hotel, which the community cannot access, dominate the area - and eject dirty water that carves its way through the township, leaving a foul stench.






Bureaucratic ping-pong


Alexandra, established as a "native town" eight years after Kliptown, has regressed. Even politicians who grew up there have called it a place "that is not sustainable for human development."



Infrastructure conditions have perhaps not improved owing to the financial state of municipalities, which has declined immensely. The latest figures from the 2017/2018 Auditor-General's local government audit reveal that clean audits are not an aspiration of many municipalities, despite the scores of people who rely on local government to govern effectively and deliver much-needed services.




In a 2007 report the National Treasury stated that "today's infrastructure requirements are tomorrow's backlogs". Today, that appears to be the case with government officials constantly using "backlogs" as the reason behind lack of decent roads, housing and electricity.

The Auditor-General's report stated that "low capital spending has potentially serious implications for the government's ability to meet targets for expanded access to water, sanitation, electricity and job creation.




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