South African Democracy: Is it delivers to the poor?

By Simphiwe Tsawu of Khayelitsha.

South African constitution contains commitment to progressive realisation of socio-economic rights within available resources, has excellent enabling legislation to ensure accountable use of resources. Yet, South African black townships have been embraced by violent protest actions against the so-called lack of basic services like houses, electricity, water and sanitation, poverty and unemployment. There are supportive government and non-government documents, which argue that since the inception of democracy, government has done a tremendous job to address the legacy of the past. This again does not mean that the poor are better off. Instead the massive population of blacks live under poverty trap with no source of income, which undermines government’s achievements in the last years of democracy.

Recently, the people of TR section from ward 92 in Khayelitsha have raised their concerned radically of not getting better services such as houses from the government. They blocked the road with stones and burning rubbish to protest against the government’s lack of commitment to help the poor. They also blamed their councilor of not taking their demands seriously. Following this protest, some community members of the TR section have been arrested.

Just after the TR section case, the angry residents of Island informal settlement from Site C blocked Landsdowne Road with stones and burning rubbish to protest against the lack of electricity in their area. The radical action by the Site C Landsdowne area took place after the policy removed cables providing electricity to their homes from a formal neighbouring community.

There are some similar examples that occurred in South Africa. These examples portray practical example of how good programmes in South Africa does not necessarily translate into visible change for the better in people’s lives. As it has been shown in the case of TR section and Site C and other parts of South Africa, when people are denied what has been formally promised to them, they tend to take the law into their own hands. The majority from these communities has angrily vowed that they are not going to vote in next year’s elections. They voiced that they are sick and tired of empty promises made to them by government officials. The “abantu besemivondolo were also voiced out their demand from the government as they started to mobilized themselves against the government.

However, I urge all the people including the TR and Site C areas to practice their democratic rights and go and vote for their respective leaders by next year.

Let me conclude this article of mine by quoting the following words from Vavi of COSATU:

In the words of Vavi (2006):

“A strong state that is controlled by capital is not in the interests of the working class. Rather, we need a democratic developmental state that drives policies in the interests of workers and the poor. That, in turn, requires inclusive and accountable policy-making processes. The voice of communities, working people, and the historically marginalised must dominate in the development of government programmes and policies. Implementation must be powered by the mobilization of our people, not just deals with big business. Only in that context do we call for a state with the power to co-ordinate around key projects, find the necessary resources, and manage both local and international situation appropriately.”

These words are true, in order to create a South African Developmental State, the poor, landless, working class groups, rural, and the historically marginalised group’s interest must be practically considered. They must take part in all stages of development implementation. The state must intervene and play a vital role in terms of mobilizing and coordinating resources for the poor.