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How to deal with defaulting councillors

ONCE upon a time, somewhere in South Africa, there was a councillor whose ward covered a number of townships scattered over a rather rural landscape. I’m not going to tell you his name or town or province, because this is a story (although I’m not making a word of this up).

This councillor seemed to be able to turn all sorts of things that happened to his own good, by some kind of magic.

In the middle of last year, the Principal of a poor little primary school in his ward came to him. “Oh sir!” she beseeched him. “Our walls are all but naked of paint. We need to pave the playground, because when it rains the children get so muddy. We have 60 children to a room.

"But all of that can wait. Sir, we have two small water tanks, and one of them is broken. We have to run a hosepipe in from far way so the toilets can be flushed. Sir, can you help us?”

“Of course, I am here to serve The People,” the councillor smiled, and then said loudly, “Abracadabra!” In a puff of smoke, a Big Businessman appeared. “Your wish is my command, oh councillor,” he said. (Of course, he knew that he would get a tax rebate for charitable donations; and he has contracts with the municipality, so it’s important for him to Keep In Good with the council; but every genie has at least two hidden agendas behind each conjuring trick, don’t they?)

“Buy this school a 5 000 litre water tank!” commanded the councillor. And in a flash! it was done. The Principal got a piece of paper proving that the tank was waiting for her to collect. And being a kind-hearted genie, the Big Businessman threw in, for good measure, some paint for the local caregivers’ shabby old container-office.

For a small, poor school, transport wasn’t an easy thing to arrange. So weeks went by… important weeks, for during that time a cry went out to all the land, and the people lined up at polling stations and voted for those they wanted as their servants.

And when the Principal eventually went to collect her tank, it had magically disappeared. Oh! She was sad. She wept for her little children and the hardships they and the staff faced, wielding that awfully long and heavy hosepipe every day.

Now the councillor’s house was in the next village along, a village which contained hundreds of tiny little shacks, and one palatial house with pillars on the front and everything, which belonged to Guess Who? Right…

Now in this village lived a cheerful fellow called Jack, who didn’t have much time for magic and stuff. He was working at the school, installing whiteboards, when the Big Businessman made his kind offer, and later, he heard of the magical disappearing act, too.

So he was much surprised when he saw a brand new 5 000 litre tank appear at the councillor’s house. “My goodness me!” Jack said to the councillor, who was leaning on his gate. “Isn’t that the tank that the Big Businessman bought for the school?”

The councillor’s face creased into an evil grin. “Ha ha ha ha!” he laughed. “It’s mine now! The election is over, and I’ve been voted in as councillor once more! I’m going to use this tank for the chickens I’m planning to get!”

Jack was shocked; he looked at the tank, lying on its side on the driveway, and then back at the councillor. “You’ve been painting!” he said, seeing white splashes on the councillor’s dungarees. “Whose paint is that? Isn’t it the paint meant for the caregivers’ container?”

The councillor took a breath, and he began to swell. Bigger and bigger he got, until he loomed over Jack like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. “It’s MINE!” he boomed, his voice bouncing off the puffy white clouds and ricocheting around the vast sky. “MINE! MINE! Everything is MINE!” And all the people trembled in fear – except Jack.

“No, it’s not,” he said perkily. “It’s ours. The Big Businessman gave it to The People. And the money you get every month – that’s our money. We pay you. You are a servant of The People. You can’t get away with this!”

“OH REALLY?” boomed the councillor. “Just you try me!”

But Jack grinned cheekily, turned a somersault and ran off to find his friends.

***

Jack and his friends are putting together a dossier of the councillor’s wrongdoings, and my hope is that you’ll read the end of the story in a newspaper someday soon.

The true story I’ve told here is particularly egregious. But this councillor is simply a mirror of the poor – in some cases, downright awful – performance of dozens and dozens of councillors across South Africa.

Jack’s right. Our rates, our taxes pay these people (about R195 000 a year for a part-time councillor, if I’m reading this right, up to about R832 000 full-time, excluding travel allowances and what-what).

We have an absolute right to demand diligent performance of their service to the people, and strict accountability. Honesty should be the least we expect.

But it’s up us, Jack and the rest of us; we have to be active citizens. There’s a process to get rid of a non-performing or dishonest councillor: find out what it is, and act on it. Document incidents and take them to national media to expose them. Don’t wait four years; take back our municipalities NOW!

* Mandi Smallhorne is a versatile journalist and editor. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter.

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