I cannot stand South Africans after an election. We become smug and self-congratulatory, as if we have achieved something extraordinary, when we have merely done the most basic of our tasks as a democracy. We spend months patting ourselves on the back for mounting an election — something we’ve had 32 years to normalise — and forget the monumental tasks we need to get on with.
We forget that election day is not the most urgent challenge we face; using that democratic instrument to then truly transform our people’s lives and our country is what it’s all about. You don’t win an election to sit back and boast about it. You use that democratic gain to change laws, make systems work, bring in fresh new blood, fix cities, make people’s lives better and make them believe in their future. An election victory is a means to an end, not the end itself.
These things should be obvious to all of us, but sadly many of our politicians will show in the next few weeks that the past year of electioneering really had nothing to do with working to change their village, town or city into a world-class entity. Instead, for them, it was all about accumulating power.
Now, after November 4, we enter the shark-filled waters of coalition negotiations. Principle will be scarce. Political chicanery will be plentiful. After that, in most cases, service delivery will be lacklustre or nonexistent.
So, after all the heat and dust of the political campaigns, I hope South Africa will emulate Thabo Mbeki’s words in June 1999 after he had led the ANC to a 66% win in national elections. Mbeki was champing at the bit to lead after Nelson Mandela’s five years at the helm. When the ANC started throwing victory parties, Mbeki made it clear that that’s not what his administration was about. His acceptance speech was brief and concluded: “We have now arrived at the moment where we go back to work.”
Mbeki implemented a programme that emphasised institution-building, particularly in the economic cluster, and made rapid economic growth and social delivery priorities. He recruited some of the best technocrats he could find and installed them at the National Treasury, the Reserve Bank, the South African Revenue Service and other parts of the administration.
The work spoke for itself: economic growth stirred from the doldrums to as high as 6%. Access to education, water, housing and other essential services widened significantly. The citizenry could see progress and Mbeki’s ANC won 69% of the vote in 2004.
That’s the past. We are here now. Many South Africans entered the polling booth this week with taps in their houses but no running water. Many also left their homes without electricity and returned to the darkness.
Those who will don mayoral chains and take up seats in councils across the country need to realise that a noisy election is merely the first step. Now the hard work begins. South Africa is so broken that we cannot afford to waste a single day.
There is no shortage of proposals. We have heard so many plans and pledges from politicians over the past year that many of us have become local government experts. But these are just plans. What we now urgently need is leadership. Those who have been elected have been given something powerful: a mandate. They must stop talking about their mandate. They must stop admiring it. They must use that mandate.
Not many people admire US President Donald Trump. Yet the man understood two essentials of leadership when he won the presidency and took office on January 20 last year: he has the power to effect change, and time is of the essence. He understood that power is nothing unless you use it. He has used his.
Our new municipal leaders now need to implement their plans for change swiftly and with dedication. They can’t stand around admiring our democracy. As Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said earlier this year: “You cannot eat democracy.” Our local government election must also deliver stable government, economic growth and material improvement for residents and citizens.
