When you addressed the SA Local Government Association yesterday, you said the government's successes in service delivery were lost in the "hurly-burly" of competitive politics.

You said your government was shy to boast about its successes and that this "created a space for those criticising its administration to sound as if they were telling the truth".

You said some countries on the continent had been free of colonial rule for 50 years, but were still battling to deliver basic services to their people.

Most of those countries, Mr President, started from a zero base after their colonisers took the little they had built and ran. Their citizens kept quiet, hoping things would change. Their belief that those elected to govern them would deliver still remains just that - a belief.

Though we agree with you, Mr President, that much has been done since the dawn of our democracy in 1994, the reality is that your administration can do more than it has done so far.

The anger and frustration in most of our communities is a result of the failures of those employed in your administration.

It is your administration that keeps getting qualified reports from the auditor-general as public officials mismanage public funds. What is shocking is that they continue to receive their bonuses.

It is your elected officials in the education sector who have failed to deliver textbooks. The list is endless.

Don't expect balanced reporting as long as millions out there have nothing while public officials continue to live in luxury.

A citizenry that complains is vital in a developing democracy like ours.