April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

structure normally operates and suggests that the distinction between
party
and community has become blurred in the minds of local voters.
• Our study found that how democracy is defined and what is demanded
of it is primarily determined by where citizens sit in relation to
socio-economic advancements. Their socio-economic context determines
what they need democracy to do for them. Hence, our respondents
understand and find value in democracy in its classical sense but they
primarily define democracy by the socio-economic outcomes which it
delivers. For example, if citizens do not have a job and struggle to feed
their families then the freedom to go where they want to go and say what
they want to say doesn?t mean very much. They seek material
transformation in democracy.
• Almost two-thirds (64%) of our respondents are dissatisfied with
the direction South Africa is going. They are particularly worried about
unemployment, low levels of job creation, poverty, the widening gap
between rich and poor. These worries are positioned on a fault line of too
many young people not in jobs or in further education. These
socio-economic challenges hold within themselves the possibility of making
democracy unsustainable.
• Our respondents have highlighted that one of the most important
components of democracy is an accountable state.
• In a liberal democracy, the space to remove and replace
governments is typically achieved through the ballot. Our respondents do
not appear to use the ballot as an instrument of accountability or dissent.
The way the ballot is used; to affirm historical and cultural affiliation to
the African National Congress has meant that accountability is sought
through other avenues, particularly local elected leaders and
municipalities, which have cascaded downward pressure onto these the
closer levers of state.
• Our respondents have voiced serious concerns about how they are
represented, how services and development is delivered at the local
sphere,
and how oversight and leadership occurs at the national sphere. About a
third (32%) of respondents felt that their municipality had performed well
over the past year, compared to 56% who disapproved. In addition, more
than half (52%) of all respondents indicated that service delivery was very
poor or poor.
• There is a crisis in confidence and very low levels of public
trust in local democratic structures. For example, 53% of respondents feel
that their local elected leaders are not accountable. The ANC, it appears,
has underestimated how strategically important the lowest levers of
democracy are in fostering democratic stability. The structure, functioning
and performance of local instruments of democracy demands urgent
attention and possibly very serious refashioning.
• The municipalities in our study face acute vulnerabilities in
functionality. Differential municipal spatial characteristics and localised
challenges have resulted in porous service delivery and development. The
migration of most of the basic service delivery competencies to the local
sphere has contributed to exacerbating the local spheres tenuousness.
Poor
performance and low levels of functionality have heightened citizen