Councillors should be held accountable

By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)

Now that the 2011 Local Government elections have been finalised and dusted, the real work begins. But whether the elected and PR councillors will deliver is another matter altogether.
In our interaction with ratepayers and residents prior to the elections, we have found that their concerns vary from area to area. For those living in informal settlements their main concerns revolve around provision of decent housing and facilities such as electricity, sanitation, proper roads, health care, proper schools, refuse removal and lack of sports grounds.
For those in townships and well-endowed suburbs their concerns are mainly about the upgrading of CBDs in towns such as Tongaat and Verulam, maintenance of sports grounds and open spaces, clean streets and verges, a clean environment, and tackling the high crime rate.
Soon after the election results were announced, President Jacob Zuma informed the successful elected councillors that they would have to commit themselves to uplifting the lives of people and attending to the civic and social problems in their wards and councils.
He warned that those who fail in their duties would be flushed out.
"Councillors must be accountable," he stressed.
The elected and PR councillors in the major Metros such as eThekwini, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town are paid huge salaries and perks. For instance in eThekwini, councillors are reported to earn as much as R350 000 a year. In any language, this salary is way too extravagant and excessive for many of the councillors when compared to the amount of work they really carry out on behalf of the people.
Except for a few committed councillors, for most their cosy work is not only about earning "easy money" but also to enrich themselves, their families and friends through tenders and other means. For them the concerns and problems of the people they are supposed to represent at local government level take second place. For them they have not heard of evils such as corruption, fraud, bribery, thievery and nepotism.
One of the councillors who appears to have some conscience is unfortunately not situated in our region. He is Mr Tony Ehrenreich, the secretary of Coastu in the Western Cape who stood as the ANC's mayoral candidate in Cape Town. Asked about his dual role as a trade union leader and councillor, he had this to say:
"I will not accept my councillor's salary in the traditional manner. As long as I'm still in Cosatu I will put the salary in a trust fund and use it to advance workers."
Although Ehrenreich did not say that he would not accept any salary as a councillor, the fact that he would not accept "two salaries" at the same time is an indication of his commitment to serving the people.
The fiery leader also appeared to know his priorities as a councillor, unlike the leeches we find in eThekwini and other municipalities. He made it clear that the rates collected should be used to address the needs of Cape Town's entire population. He would especially work to promote the concerns of the poor.
"We want to make sure we raise our points that the budget doesn't reject the urgent needs of poor communities."
Oh, how I wish we had the quality of an Ehrenreich in eThekwini. Let's sincerely hope the Tony Ehrenreichs are not a dying breed.
For those in our midst who don't qualify as a "Tony Ehrenreich", let's hope that they will at least try to be clean, honest, sincere and committed to serving the people in their wards. If not, they should be "flushed out" as promised by President Zuma. - Subry Govender, Chief Editor