Approaching the Local Government Elections

1: Introduction

1. The approach set out here has to be understood against the background of the reports and
   resolutions adopted at the 10th Congress of the party and the Strategy Conference held
   last September (in particular the paper on "Local Government Transformation" and
   the resolution on "Local Government Transformation and Elections").

2. Overall Approach

1: Our approach to the local government elections has to be located in terms of our
understanding of the current challenges that confront our transition and the party’s
overall programme for the year, organised around the theme "Building People’s
Power for the Eradication of Poverty". The major challenges are around economic
growth, job-creation and social development. We must intensify our efforts to
significantly reduce the social inequalities that confront us. A crucial challenge that
must be met is the need to significantly improve the nature and quality of the
organisational structures of the SACP and the Alliance. Our programme, organised around
six related aspects - jobs; rural transformation; crime and violence; HIV/AIDS, local
government; and international solidarity - provides an important basis for this.

2: Very importantly, the local government campaign is not just about the elections (to
be held sometime between late October this year and the end of January next year). It is
also about the establishment of new municipalities and the implementation of a
fundamentally new model of local government that is a considerable advance over the
current one. (The new model is dealt with in the "Local Government
Transformation" paper referred to above.) The elections, then, are inextricably
linked to the transformation of local government as a whole, and our campaign must take
this into account.

3: Obviously, we will wage our campaign as part of the Tripartite Alliance. The
Alliance campaign is still being shaped, and we need to contribute to that. But, in
addition to that, as the SACP we also have to wage our own campaign, as we did in 1999. In
order to develop a concrete campaign of our own, we will have to have a clear sense of the
resources available to us reasonably soon.

3: Demarcation : Reduction of Municipalities

1: The Municipal Demarcation Board announced the final municipal boundaries on 22
February. The 843 municipalities currently existing will be reduced to 284. This will be
made up of 6 Metropolitan, 46 District and 232 Local municipalities. 8 District and 7
Local municipalities are proposed as "cross-boundary" municipalities.

2: The number of councillors will not be that drastically reduced. The Minister of
Provincial and Local Government is about to finalise the formulae for the number of
councillors. It will be based on the number of registered voters. Currently there are
11883 councillors. With the new system, it is likely that we will have 8809 and about 9800
councillors.

3: 50% of the council seats will be decided on the basis of ward elections. The
Demarcation Board, after consultation with the IEC, will delimit the ward boundaries. This
will be completed by 31 May. The IEC will run the elections through Municipal Election
Officers.

4: Transformation of Local Government

1: The re-demarcation of municipalities is part of the overall transformation of local
government. This has been dealt with, in broad terms, in the "Local Government
Transformation" paper. Essentially, the new system stresses the developmental role of
local government. If this system is appropriately implemented, it can considerably advance
our notion of a national democratic developmental state.

2: Among the key features of the new system that impact more immediately on our
election campaign are:

• The unicity metropolitan municipalities: as key sites of political power, economic
  growth and development.
• The enhanced role of the District Councils (as compared to Local Councils): in respect
  especially of regional integrated development planning, bulk infrastructure and services,
  redistribution, and capacity-building of municipalities.
• The more powerful system of executive structures: this applies particularly to the
  executive mayors, but also to the new executive committees.
• The different role of Traditional Leaders: with primary municipalities in traditional
  authority areas, and non-voting ex-officio participation of traditional leaders without
  exceeding 10% of a municipality.
• The space for public participation: this has been considerably enhanced, for example
  with ward committees, and will be developed even further in the forthcoming Municipal
  Systems Bill.
• The more complex electoral system: it is more democratic and has to be located in terms
  of the new model as a whole and what it seeks to achieve.

5: The Electoral System

1: The electoral system is explained in the "National Elections Strategy
Workshop" reports.

2: Some of the key features are:

• 50% ward - 50% PR (instead of the current 60-40%, to encourage greater gender
  representation and to balance some negative effects of the overall proportionality of the
  new system)
• Overall proportionality: Required by the Constitution. So instead of the current
  parallel system where ward votes and PR are counted separately, we will have a mixed
  system where ward and PR votes are added together to arrive at overall proportionality.
  This means in effect that it is likely that the more ward seats we win, the less PR seats
  we might be entitled to in a municipality.
• Unlike the present system where all District councillors are appointed by the Local
  councils, in the new system 40% of the District councillors will be directly elected on a
  PR list system, while the remainder will be appointed by the Local councils. This new
  system is related to the more powerful role allocated to District Councils and the need
  for them to be more directly accountable to the people.
  

3: The number of votes people will have:

• Metropolitan Council voters: 1 ward vote, 1 PR vote
• Local Council voters: 1 ward vote, 1 PR vote for the Local Council, I PR vote for the
  District Council
• District Management Areas (those areas under a District Council which do not have Local
  Councils - example, deserts, conservation areas, etc): I PR vote for District Management
  representatives on the
• District Council, 1 PR vote for the District Council.

6: Approaching the Campaign

1: MANIFESTO: What should be the key issues taken up in the ANC and Alliance Election
Manifesto? Should we have an SACP "Local Government Statement" beyond the
Manifesto that sets out a specifically socialist perspective, or would that create
difficulties in view of our common Alliance Manifesto? Some issues that could be taken up
in the Manifesto:

• The link with the 1999 Election Manifesto, particularly around consolidating democracy
  and "partnerships with the people" , accelerating change, transforming the
  state, speeding up the delivery of basic needs, and building the economy and creating
  jobs.
• The extent of delivery through municipalities.
• The advantages of the new model of local government, particularly in respect of
  democracy, economic growth and development.
• The importance of the unicity metropolitan areas, the new role of District
  municipalities and the greater space for public participation.
• The accountability of councillors and officials to the public.

2: A major issue that will have to be addressed is how we relate a national Manifesto
on local government elections with the need to stress local issues specific to each
municipality and, even, ward.

3: If we were to decide on an SACP "Local Government Statement" what
specifically socialist issues would we want to focus on? We would need further discussion
on this.

4: BUILDING SACP STRUCTURES: Both the election and overall local government campaign
offer enormous opportunities to strengthen the structures of the party from branch level
upwards. We need to make maximum use of the space that is opening up. We should also
target workplaces and seek to establish our industrial structures.

5: RESTRUCTURING: The restructuring of local government poses major challenges, and has
the potential of creating huge conflict between ANC-run councils and COSATU, particularly
SAMWU. With the reduction of municipalities and changes in delivery systems (including
privatisation, corporatisation, the creation of public utilities, public-private
partnerships, and so on), the unions are very concerned about job losses. This could have
a very serious impact on the election results, with significant sections of our working
class supporters and their families not voting for us. As the SACP, we need to contribute
more actively to addressing issues around restructuring. We should focus on the need for
the restructuring to be appropriately negotiated with all the relevant stakeholders. We
should stress that the changes in delivery systems should be effected in terms of the
"Framework for Restructuring of Municipal Service Provision". We should seek to
actively contribute to finding an amicable settlement of the crisis around "IGOLI
2002".

6: GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY: These are key features of local government that we
need to give a specific socialist content to. As the SACP we have to more determinedly
focus on redistribution and the need to empower the working class and other sections of
the poor to play their full role in local government issues. We also have to work closely
with COSATU in seeking a more active role for workers in the transformation of
municipalities.

7: TRADITIONAL LEADERS: The objections of traditional leaders to traditional authority
areas being included in primary municipalities and other aspects of the new model of local
government are being addressed by the President. Clearly, primary municipalities have to
be established in traditional authority areas, but there may be room to negotiate around
the participation of traditional leaders in municipalities, and the way municipalities
exercise their powers and functions in traditional authority areas. There is significant
potential for conflict around these issues in some areas of the country, particularly in
KZN, and our campaign strategies have to take this into account.

8: VOTER REGISTRATION: We need to go on a major voter registration drive, especially in
view of the migratory nature of significant sections of the Alliance’s constituency
and the impact of the new ward boundaries. The IEC intends to open the voters roll in
about August. We might want to consider whether it should not be sooner.

9: CHOOSING CANDIDATES: Final decisions on candidates will have to be carefully made.
There is potential for huge conflict here. Tensions could well develop between structures
of the different Alliance partners. We need to discuss this properly. Relations with SANCO
will also have to considered.

7: Programme

1: We need to develop a concrete programme based on the issues taken up in this paper
and other relevant issues. A specific SACP programme will have to co-ordinate with the
Alliances’s overall campaign. The phases of our campaign have to resonate with those
of the Alliance’s campaign. The Alliance programme is still being fine tuned and as
this happens, we will become clearer about how we can wage a specific SACP campaign in
addition to being active in the overall Alliance campaign.

2: Apart from the way we take up issues and the content we give to them, our socialist
message must also come across through posters, leaflets, statements in the media, and so
on. We must target a part of this specifically for workplaces, and work closely with
COSATU structures in this respect.

8: Structures

1: We need to set up SACP election structures from branch level upwards. These
structures must work within the Alliance election structures but must also take
responsibility for the SACP’s specific programme. We need further discussion on how
these structures should be constituted, who should serve on them, how they should
function, and how they will be funded and given other forms of support.

2: There is much work to be done! We must simply get down to doing it!