Low Voter Turnout + An Increased Opposition Vote= A Maturing Democracy
According to research done by the Good Governance (GGA) South Africa (a nonprofit organization that aims to improve governance performance across the continent; to inform and persuade the policy community that transparency and accountability are the basic building blocks of successful development; to strengthen the rule of law; and to build an active citizenry that institutionalises constraints on executive power), none of the Dr. Ruth S. Mompati District’s Local Municipalities are ranked above 78th in a list of 205 municipalities they compiled just before the 2021 Local Government Elections.
The organization compiled what they referred to as the Governance Performance Index – South Africa 2021. The GPI, according to the organization is a ranking instrument that provides all interested stakeholders with an index of municipal-level governance performance. Their mandate is to improve government effectiveness and to strengthen citizens to hold their governments to account. The Vryburg Independent Post (The V.I.P) Team perused the presented document alongside the recently announced Local Government Elections Results. This was with a keen interest in the North West Province Results, and the Dr. Ruth S. Mompati District Results specifically. This district attained a total of 313 853 votes during these elections, dominated again by the 2016’s ANC Administration, with a 56% majority. This, looking at the GGA’s presented index at face value, would have means that there is no real change in the technicalities of the municipalities in the district that have been run by the same party during the 5 years that was.
313 853 Voters in the Dr. Ruth S. Mompati Distric
GGA’s Governance Performance Index (GPI), at its most basic level, serves as a performance improvement incentive and a benchmark against which local municipalities can track their performance. Mamusa Local Municipality is ranked at 78, Naledi Local Municipality at 80, Kagisano Molopo Local Municipality is ranked at 109, while Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality and Greater Taung Local Municipality are ranked at 128 and 200, respectively. According to GGA, the 2021 GPI is methodologically enhanced and differs significantly in this respect from its predecessors. Its framework is drawn primarily from the legal and official policy structures governing municipalities in the Republic of South Africa. These include:
i. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Chapter 7, Section 151 – 153)
ii. Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998)
iii. White Paper on Local Government (1998) iv. Municipal Systems Act – MSA (Act 3 of 2000)
v. Integrated Development Planning (as outlined in Chapter 5, Section 26 of the MSA) vi. Municipal Financial Management Act 56 of 2003
vii. Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) 2009.
Naledi Local Municipality, under a category that GGA weighs as most important, which is Service Delivery, was reported to have access to piped water at a low 39.2%, access to a flush toilet with a sewerage system at 69.4%, access to weekly refuse removal at 67.8%, and 80.2% for access to electricity. The Naledi Subdistrict represents what could be referred to as a more developed make up of the geographical layout of the land in the district. This is clear from the GPI, as out of the 5 sub districts only 2 have higher access to piped water, access to weekly refuse removal, while access to a flush toilet with a sewerage system at over 10% per sub category. Ironically, it is in these 2 developed, in this context, municipalities, that the 2021 Local Government Election Voter turn out was recorded at the lowest in the district, with Naledi having 57.5% of its citizens come out to vote, while Lekwa-Teemane only 54.2% residents at the polls. The Naledi Local Municipality Polls were 5000 less voters at this year’s election, and from this we saw a sharp decline of over 9% in the results of the ANC at the municipality as compared to the 2016 Local Government Election results. The Democratic Alliance’s opposition in the municipality was also dented by the fewer people at the Polls. The DA had majority of over 20% in the 2016 elections and now they are tied at 16% with the EFF. The general sentiment around voter turnout nationally is that it has decreased, as anticipated by most bookies, and the North West Province is no different. The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), in its pre-election survey, pointed to a lack of trust in the country’s political system and politicians as one of the reasons for this year’s voter turn out.
The new council administration steps into the start of their term challenged by the past 5 years’ trips and falls in service delivery. The North West Province’s municipalities as a collective have faired well as far as service delivery is concerned according to GGA’s GPI. Be that as it may, individual Municipalities, specifically the one’s in the Dr. Ruth S. Mompati District, scored very poorly in the index. As much as Municipalities such Greater Taung Local Municipality have over 75% of access to Electricity, the same municipality lacks in the scoring of the weekly refuse removal subcategory, at below 25%. It is the same municipality yet again that, in terms of the recent election results can be applauded for the greatest numbers at tallying a 3 ballot count of over 120 000 ballots and claiming over 70% majority in councilorship. The V.I.P Team’s logic would be to assume that kind of boost in the comparison of dealt politics in a democracy should see the Municipality moving up the GPI ranks. The new council is composed of a clear ANC majority with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in opposition with over 23% majority.
Lekwa-Teemane Local municipality is the smallest municipality in the district with a total population, according to Statistics South Africa (2020), of a little over 61 000 citizens. Only 11 364 people turned out to all voting districts. The ANC in this Municipality failed to achieve the required 50% plus one majority. A 13% decline when compared with the 2016 results. This was as over 2 000 less people did not turn out to the Polls and over 600 spoilt votes. This hung council has on its plate a ranking of 128 on the GPI barometer, explained to be due to a lack of service delivery. The V.I.P Team understands from the index that piped water in the past 5 years was delivered at 29%, while the other indicators are all above 80%. This indicators include access to electricity, a flush toilet with a sewerage system, and weekly refuse removal. Despite all these indicators, the voters in the municipality opted for change, evident in the 23,6% of EFF benches in opposition in the newly elected council.
It is many of these voters who surely must be hoping that less coalition politicking will take place during this council’s term, and more services are delivered to them. It is interesting how the collective of the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality Council opposition easily make up over 40% of the Total Valid Votes percentage. This is inclusive of a notable low 9.3% by the Democratic Alliance, while The Freedom Front Plus also showed some ground with a 6,5% Total Valid Vote Percentage. Evident to the low voter turnout of these elections, the 1 Percentages and fives were voted in by an average less than two thousand Total Valid Votes, namely, Forum for Service Delivery, Independent, and the African Independent Congress, Respectively.
In a rounded conclusion, the index reports the North West Province to have delivered 91.6% of formal housing. Some voters, putting the GGA’s GPI into a perspective drawn by The V.I.P Team, 24% of piped water in the buildings was not enough, worsened by the existing lack of water challenges the Province faces. The Province went into these elections with a 32% unemployment rate, while poverty line sits at 50%. However way you look at it, whether these mentioned constituencies turnout to the Polls or not, the 2021 Local Government Election Results are as defined by Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States of America “government of the people for the people and by the people. … That is, the interest of the people should superintend over even that of government officials.” The elected Councillors are therefore called by all constituencies to serve as champions of the Interest of the People. The low voter turnout and the swaying of a lot of votes in this year’s elections should ultimately be viewed as the maturing of a Democracy that we have for long referred to as a Young Democracy. Arguable, South Africa is a Young Democracy, and with this born in mind, one will realize indicators of what the future holds not only in Local Governance, but most certainly in National Governance as well.
-The VIP Team
-IEC Results Portal
-GGA GPI
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