Just before the 2021 local government elections, ANC councillors pledged to the people of Matlosana to among others do better and be better public representatives than the previous councillors and to deploy honest and competent local administrators.
They pledged to deliver services promptly and consistently and to rebuild safer and healthier communities especially in our townships. But they also pledged to listen to and have open channels where they remain accountable to communities.
Importantly, they pledged to spare neither effort nor energy in rooting out corruption and all forms of nepotism and malfeasances in our municipality.
To sign the pledge “e ne e se morabaraba” but to make a firm commitment that they would work for the betterment of our local communities. It was really important to sign the pledge because the ANC had admitted that progress was not sufficiently made and its deployees had not delivered as they should have especially in dealing with the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequalities in our society.
The ANC also acknowledged that there was corruption, waste and under-spending including within its ranks. As such, ANC councillors committed to the people of Matlosana to rid the city of corruption and self-serving tendencies which often characterised our municipality.
The ANC expected its councillors to do these because of poor service delivery. Water was lost through leaks due to poor maintenance and the Midvaal Water Company was owed millions. Electricity supply was not stable in the city due to load-shedding and the municipality owed ESKOM more than a billion.
Refuse was not collected regularly while raw sewage was flowing in the streets while potholes were a nightmare especially for motorists, and during rainy seasons it is really bad.
What has happened since 2021? Am I wrong to conclude that most of these things were not given the necessary attention? Am I wrong to say that the situation has worsened? Am I wrong to conclude that with the current battles for power and infightings has exacerbated the situation as there is no hope that it will get better?
If I am wrong I stand to be corrected but just to highlight my observations, the following issues are presented as examples:
- people of this city are enduring electricity blackouts, running water in the streets and poor service delivery.
- the municipality has not attended to the allegations of corruption and malfeasances which it is alleged are daily perpetuated within the municipality especially in the Roads, Housing, Finance and the Fresh Produce Market departments etc.
- there is a general perception in the city that officials are appointed not based on merit but on nepotism, political affiliation, monetary and other related advances.
- youth unemployment, crime, drugs, teenage pregnancy and motherhood are issues endemic in the city.
- two weeks ago the Chief Financial Officer was fired. The Auditor General has pointed a bleak picture about the state of municipal finances which is riddled not only by corruption but also by unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures. Worse, some of these issues are directed at the highest echelons of the municipality.
- potholes are the order of the day in the city of Matlosana and they damaged motor vehicles and there is no plan to deal with them.
As I pointed out, these are just a few examples of many other issues that can be raised.
In order to extricate the city from this morass and from the quagmire of ignominy and shame it is entrapped, true leadership is required urgently.
In order to defeat the system of apartheid, leaders of the ANC were politically descent, inspiring, honest, supportive, organized, interactive, understanding, God-fearing, trustworthy, hard-working, ambitious, selfless, smart, intelligent, respectful, responsible, independent, faithful and caring.
Do we see these qualities in the present generation of leaders especially here in Matlosana today?
As anonymous said, shepherds are expected to guide, direct, protect and point to a path. They cannot follow wherever the sheep want to go. Sheep may want to cross a public road in search of greener pastures. But if shepherd notice an oncoming car, should he let the sheep to cross the road or is it his responsibility to ensure they do not cross, even though they agitate to do so?
True leadership is about being willing to swim against the tide; it is about climbing the tallest tree to get a better view; it is about casting your eyes beyond your toes while tripping on the obstacles along the way; being the north star to the wandering travellers; saving the crew of a sinking ship, even when to do so could lead to death.
Even parents do not indulge every whim of their children. It is their duty sometimes to say no, even if the child kicks and screams for whatever takes its fancy and seems nice to have at the time.
To students, teachers are like directors to a cast. Sometimes they must ask learners to do what they might not like doing – homework, reading the classic, calculus, or even punishment for transgressing certain values.
Even in the military, leaders may be called on to issue unpalatable orders which may not be explained until the danger has passed. If an officer spots a sniper aiming at his men, he will not first explain the danger, thereby eliciting panic. He will instruct his troops to take cover and only later to explain the danger.
When the fire breaks out in a public place, those in authority do not shout “fire” and engender chaos. They direct the traffic to an outlet only to explain later to people when it is over.
These are examples of what leaders may sometimes be called upon to do. Leaders may have the unenviable task of doing what is unpopular, disliked, resented and opposed by society.
We elect people to lead us because in them we see qualities that lend themselves to taking decisions or forming opinions that are independent of – if not opposed to – popular sentiments and attitudes.
Leaders should not mirror what the led are yearning for when they know the dangers of what is being asked for. Leaders do not abdicate their responsibility by becoming caves, echoing the many voices. Rather, they trumpet what is right and what is for the greatest good.
In the current conjecture we need revolutionary leadership to move Matlosana forward. We must reaffirm what the American couple and activists, James and Grace Lee Boggs said in 1974 in their book Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century: “Revolutionary leadership, if made clear, involved far more than sympathy for the oppressed or hatred for the oppressor…… revolutionary leadership is not for the fainthearted, the flamboyant, or the fly-by-night, the easily flattered, the easily satisfied, or the easily intimidated, the seekers after excitement or popularity or martyrdom…. (revolutionaries) are those who would give the rest of their lives to it”.
Thami China Dodovu is the former Executive Mayor for the City of Matlosana Local Municipality.
