Parties' manifesto vows

They have had their numbers' contest, brought out their supporters and made all the right noises. With three months' to go before the local government elections , we look at what the ANC, the DA, the EFF and the UDM have promised to get your vote

ANC focus on the economy

JOBS AND ECONOMY:

• Making cities and towns effective centres of production, information processing and economic and spatial development.
• Developing sports and recreational facilities to grow local economies.
• Supporting cooperatives.
• Promoting local procurement of goods and services to increase local production.
• Encouraging the growth of SMMEs and cooperatives through centralised government procurement.
• Maintaining all municipal infrastructure and facilities.
• Encouraging local businesses to target young people and to take advantage of programmes to promote youth employment.
• Expanding broadband access in local government, including through free Wi-Fi areas.

FIGHTING CORRUPTION:

• Identify and deal effectively with cases of fraud and corruption.
• Ensuring that all ANC councillors abide by the ANC’s code of conduct.
• Preventing municipal officials and councillors from doing business with municipalities.
• Holding corrupt municipal officials and councillors liable for the losses incurred by the municipality as a result of their corrupt actions.
• Pursuing action against companies involved in bid rigging, price fixing and corruption in procurement.
• Ensuring there are consequences for municipal councils’ illegal decisions.
• Implementing recommendations emanating from forensic investigations conducted in municipalities.
• Mobilising communities to play an active part in fighting fraud and corruption.

FIGHTING CRIME:

• Strengthening the community safety forums and forming street committees as part of community efforts against crime.
• Improving street lighting and signs in towns, townships and villages.
• Encouraging municipalities to enter into partnerships with business against crime, community-based organisations and NGOs.
• Strengthening the enforcement of municipal by-laws on anti-dumping, maintenance of a healthy environment and prevention of illegal trading.
• Embarking on massive campaigns against drug and substance abuse and illegal trading in our communities.
• Working with all sectors to end violence against women and children.
• Involving traditional leaders in crime-fighting efforts in rural communities.
• Strengthening municipal courts to service communities effectively.

DELIVERING BASIC SERVICES:

• Electrifying areas that are yet to receive power and rolling out solar energy in certain areas.
• Enhancing the capacity of municipalities to accelerate upgrading and integration of informal settlements.
• Increasing the capacity of existing dams, building new dams and improving water treatment infrastructure.
• Cleaning public sanitation facilities in towns and cities and rolling out sanitation facilities in informal settlements and rural municipalities.
• Intensifying cleaning campaigns in towns and cities and increasing households with access to refuse removal.
• Ensuring that tarred roads are maintained and gravel roads are graded.
• Addressing challenges related to billing systems and enhancing the system to protect indigent households.
• Mobilising funding for rehabilitation, refurbishment and replacement of ageing infrastructure.

DA pledges jobs, services, safety

JOBS:

• Investing in infrastructure to create an environment suitable for private sector investments and job creation.
• Establishing local economic development (LED) one-stop-shops to provide information on investment opportunities to drive and promote job-creating investment.
• Ensuring that municipal officials prioritise all applications relating to job-creating investments.
• Working with small and micro enterprises, business chambers and regional economic development agencies to promote businesses regionally and nationally.
• Implementing bus and taxi transport systems where they are most needed and ensuring integrated public transport systems in metros by using single “smart” ticket systems – which allow commuters to use all forms of public transport (such as bus and taxi) with one ticket.
• Speeding up the delivery of title deeds to state-subsidised housing so that recipients have legal ownership of their homes.
• Using government infrastructure to connect disadvantaged communities to the internet by using municipal facilities such as public libraries and clinics to create Wi-Fi hotspot hubs.
• Partnering with the private and nonprofit sectors to provide capped free data at universal hotspots in municipal buildings and other government facilities, allowing all residents to access the internet.

DELIVERING BASIC SERVICES:

• Fixing potholes and maintaining all municipal roads.
• Providing access to electricity, water and sanitation.
• Weekly refuse collection from formal and informal areas.
• Regular maintenance and refurbishment of municipal infrastructure.

FIGHTING CORRUPTION:

• Establishing an effective system to process complaints and to report corruption.
• Appointing all government staff fairly, based on the value that they add.
• Excluding councillors and other public representatives from the Expanded Public Works Programme recruitment.
• Opening up the tender process at the adjudication stage.
• Opening up council meetings.

SAFETY:

• Developing specialist crime prevention units in metros to focus on specific priority crimes, like gangsterism and drugs.
• Prioritising the establishment of municipal law enforcement services for traffic policing and crime prevention.

UDM aims to put community first

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

• Ensure that councils turn all their efforts towards stimulating and promoting local economic development.
• Form partnerships with local communities and businesses to stimulate the local economy.
• The three tiers of government need to work together; intergovernmental relationships and support systems must be improved to stimulate economic development at local level.
• Small and medium-sized businesses can only flourish in a stimulating environment.
• Municipalities that do not pay contractors on time are undermining job creation. Encourage local entrepreneurs to get the job done and be paid on time.
• Support the youth, women and people with disabilities to be entrepreneurs.

CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMUNITY:

• The UDM commits itself to continuous and regular interaction with the community.
• Your UDM councillor will come from your community and will continue to live in the community from which he/she has been elected.
• Every UDM councillor pledges to maintain an open-door policy to ensure that you are in a position to express your needs and aspirations.
• In those municipalities where the UDM governs, public participation in decision-making will be guaranteed.

ADEQUATE HEALTH SERVICES AND HYGIENE:

• Liaise with relevant state departments to ensure that community health is a priority.
• Ensure that communities have access to testing, counselling and treatment for HIV/Aids and other chronic illnesses.

BASIC SERVICES:

• Provide every household in the community with access to clean, reliable water and sanitation.
• Make it a priority to promote and incorporate all viable options for electricity generation. The UDM aim is to ensure that every household has access to reliable electricity.
• Make adequate housing, in conjunction with provincial and national authorities, one of the highest priorities in those councils where the UDM governs.
• Make sure that municipal road projects are not undermined by shoddy workmanship. Roads should be properly built and any UDM councillor will fight for the implementation of proper quality control measures.

SAFETY:

•  Advocate for local community safety organisations to be empowered.
• A UDM council will engage the SA Police Service to bring satellite police stations closer to communities.
• In those councils that have metro police services, serious interventions will be launched to root out corruption and incompetence.
• Community involvement is vital, thus neighbourhood watches and similar initiatives will help us take back our streets and foster better relationships between the community and the police.

EFF prioritises the poor

KEY PROMISES:

• Expropriate land without compensation.
• Build quality houses with basic infrastructure and sanitation.
• Unlimited Wi-Fi in public spaces to help in the search for jobs.
• EFF councillors involved in corruption will be fired with immediate effect.
• Free electricity for the poor.
• Councillors must represent the communities they live in.
• Every councillor must make their cell number public. They must be accessible 24 hours.
• To rename streets after African heroes.
• To hire qualified officials regardless of their political affiliation.
• An EFF-led municipality will not use consultants.
• EFF municipalities will be open six days a week. Workers will be able to access municipalities at weekends.
• EFF will not build bicycle lanes when people live in shacks.
• Councillors will not give houses in exchange for sex.
• Councillors must bury the poor.