If a recent North West High Court judgment giving the ratepayers' association of Kgetlengrivier control of the water and sewage works is read in the context of a general decline in the provision of services around the country, it could be an invitation to South Africans to discuss new ways of electing representatives, writes Mpumelelo Mkhabela.
A new way of governing the country could be in the making. It goes like this. Every five years, thousands of politicians around the country convince millions of voters to put them into power on the undertaking that they will deliver top-quality services in various municipalities.
Before the five-year term is out, it becomes apparent that the only thing the successful politicians and the bureaucrats they employ know is to secure positions of power for themselves. Once in power, the politicians who sweet-talked their way into council chambers are only happy to get salaries and additional benefits that come with controlling the purse strings of municipalities.
