Green Shoots: Community manifestos could be the game changer for more accountability

Local government is the foundation of constitutional provisions, where public servants are directly accountable for service administration, and democracy is practiced more directly than at the national level. Recently, a panel discussion on Johannesburg's and the country's municipalities' state was attended. All panelists and moderator agreed that Joburg is in a mess, with municipalities failing to uphold the constitution's promise of a dignified life.

Debt and financial mismanagement, poor infrastructure maintenance, and difficulties in hiring competent staff were discussed. The city, largest globally without a natural water source, frequently suffers water outages due to burst pipes. Response times for repairing systems vary, leading to uncertainty about timely assistance. Neglected areas and working-class townships struggle with uncollected garbage.

Corruption exacerbates the crisis; one municipality had over a billion dollars in debt and employed 400 ghost workers. The panel suggested reducing the public wage bill, implying fewer competent employees. Election season is approaching, and candidates promise to fix things. The panel moderator reminded us of South Africa's history of near-calamity, bringing us back to the pressing need to fix municipalities.

Competent people must run them, but ordinary people must also hold elected representatives accountable. A new innovation involves community manifestos, where communities describe desired traits in their representatives and invite candidates to sign these demands. If candidates refuse, the community can refuse to vote for them. With small margins of victory, a community manifesto could have significant consequences for aspirant councillors, shifting power to the voters.