'Caring' politicians will revert to form once votes are cast

18 May 2015 - 02:00 By The Times Editorial

These are interesting times as we prepare for the 2016 local government elections. Councillorsare dispatching teams to attend to residents' requests. A phone call to the municipality suddenly gets attention. We even saw last week the ANC marching with Soweto residents to protest against Eskom's plans to manage their power consumption with pre-paid meters.All this tells us that the ruling party is worried about the outcome of the local government elections.Municipalities should not wait until the eve of local polls to suddenly discover service delivery backlogs.It should not take the threat of losing votes for those elected to serve us to wake up and do their job.The sweeping of streets, cutting the grass and fixing potholes should be a standard service we get every day.As we get closer to the elections next year, expect your local representative to suddenly take an unusual interest in your complaints. Don't be shocked if you suddenly get a visit from party officials to check on whether you need any help.Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan should demand a better work ethic and that those given the responsibility of serving us do so even without the threat of losing votes in an election.South Africa can become a better country, in which services are delivered, if we change our attitudes.The "Back to Basics" document put out by Gordhan, brilliant as it is, demands a political shift by our ruling party.Those who fail, be it mayors, councillors or ministers, should not be recycled into new positions just to satisfy political agendas.Service to the people should be at the centre of their contracts.The ardent attention our people are experiencing these days should be made permanent.Let the good times roll...

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