A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Not delivering service, only harm

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The great poet William Wordsworth once famously declared that he wandered lonely as a cloud, and when his mind is blank, he thinks of golden daffodils. When my mind goes blank, I think of my money problems … or that video of protesting grannies chanting “Zuma must goooooo!”

Their little dance, a bit more clunky than Wordsworth’s daffodils’, makes me laugh without fail and captures a time when citizens were more hopeful that their voice and vote could make a difference.

Nine years later, and less than two weeks before the local government elections, much of that optimism has drained like sewage down the street.

It does not have the glitz and glamour of the general elections where a president and parliament are elected, but local government elections are just as important because they hold the chance to bring change to the community you live and work in.

And over the past four months, The Citizen team has visited dozens of communities across the country, from small dorpies to sprawling metros, and seen the state of many. No matter where we went, we saw rampant crime, demoralising unemployment, potholes, and leaking sewerage. A universal service delivery failure.

SA has many widespread public administration problems, but the sheer scale of our waste crisis is alarming. It is threatening to swallow not only our hope but also the very communities we live in.

Where is the dignity?

The Constitutional Court has seemingly replaced straightforward governance in this country, so it is worth looking at the court’s playbook.

“Everyone has the right ­to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being,” declares section 24 of the Constitution, following on from the Bill of Rights’ declaration that “everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.”

But it is hard to see that dignity when children play in toilet water on the way to school, when homes are flooded with wastewater, when garbage isn’t collected from the streets, and when people in major metros fall horribly sick from water they thought was safe.

Welcome to the post-apocalypse

If the protesting grannies were a sign the end is near, this would be the post-apocalypse.

We have sadly seen, in several failed municipalities over the last few years, a rush by government officials to grab anything of value before being booted from power. All that remains in these once-thriving towns is poverty, decay, and filth, punctured occasionally by tacky and pretentious opulence by those who pocketed the budget.

This legion of looters has spread to cities once thought too big and important to fail, decimating them.

What started as annoying governance failure quickly morphed into damaging infrastructure collapse. Now it is a public health emergency that is not only killing the economy but putting our very people’s lives at risk.

Cruelly, this may be another sick attempt at getting an emergency tender to enrich without regulation. Or perhaps this is for real, and all the looting has really left us with nothing but a collapsed city.

Promises won’t make people better again

For decades, we have swallowed promises from flashy politicians who don’t even care to set foot, with their LV shoes, in the areas they claim to care about and serve. We have devoured their empty apologies and pledges like a cure.

But now no amount of promises will heal a sick child or mother. No public declarations will sweep the streets clean and stop infestations. No pledges will undo filthy muck flowing from taps where clean water was expected.

No amount of apologies will bring back a life and dignity taken by selfishness and greed.