6 December 2000
Following the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) in our country's second democratic elections held on 05 December, the South African Communist Party (SACP) salutes the people of our country for their resolve for ongoing fundamental transformation of our country. With this renewed mandate, our people are calling on ANC led local government for a renewed commitment to deepen local government transformation in favour of the mass of ordinary working people and the poor.
The SACP fully supports and particularly welcomes the ANC Manifesto commitment to provide all a free basic amount of water, electricity and other municipal services to all and the consolidation of the public sector as the preferred service provider.
The ANC Manifesto commitments are decisive in achieving more substantial redistribution. But a range of hostile forces (neo-liberal and old-guard bureaucrats, transnational corporate interests seeking municipal privatisation contracts, and resistance from rich residents and business to cross-subsidisation) threaten to erode these pro-working class gains through privatisation and outsourcing.
Therefore the SACP highlights the need to struggle for cross-subsidisation at both municipal and national levels since cross subsidisation is the only way to ensure access to all, backed by the ability of our people to use popular mobilisation to unblock barriers to transformation.
This also implies achieving appropriate levels of national government funding through, amongst other things, following on the commitment by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to increase central-local state subsidies by more than the 15%.
It is in this context that the SACP calls on the new ANC Council and Mayor in the Johannesburg Metro to take steps in consultation with municipal workers' unions to resolve the impasse over iGoli 2002 in favour of the working class. The continuing impasse over iGoli 2002 is not in the interests of either Johannesburg or local government transformation.
The SACP also notes with a degree of concern the performance of the DA in the Western Cape. This represents a racist and right wing stranglehold over the Western Cape and resistance to transformation. Whilst the DA campaign also guaranteed "basic services for all", the DA also insists on "sharply targeted subsidisation of consumers at the point of delivery where it is warranted on the basis of a means test," which contradicts its emphasis on the universal "all". The DA also emphasises privatisation, which is likely to lead to job losses and unaffordable services to the mass of ordinary working people and the poor.
And thus the SACP will work for ongoing mass mobilisation to local government transformation, which the DA will block where it is in opposition and also where it runs local government.
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information Publicity - South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339-3621/2+ADs- Fax: 27 11 339-4244
Cell - 083 651 0271+ADs- Email - sacp@wn.apc.org