Address by President Jacob Zuma on the occasion of the launch of the ANC 2016 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS MANIFESTO
Port Elizabeth
16 April 2016
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosaand all ANC Officials,
Members of the ANC National Executive Committee,
Leadership of the ANC Leagues and all ANC formations,
Leadership of the Tripartite Alliance and SANCO,
Traditional and Religious leaders,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Comrades, Compatriots and friends,
Molweni, Sanibonani, dumelang, thobela, good day, goeie dag!
We welcome you all to the launch of the 2016 local government elections manifesto of our glorious movement,the ANC, umbutho wabantu bonke.
Siyanamukela nonke kulomcimbiwokwethula usomqulu kaKhongolosewokhetho lohulumeni basekhaya.
Losomqulu ubalula ukuthi yiniesizoyenza eminyakeni emihlanuezayo, uma siqhubeka nomsebenziwokwenza ngcono izimpilo zabantu.
In line with the Constitution, our country holds regular elections.
We held the last local government elections in 2011 and are preparing for the next elections on the 3rd of August 2016.
The ANC is guided by the Constitution of the Republic in all the work it does to improve the quality of life of the people.
The Constitution of the Republiccalls for the improvement of the quality of life of all citizens and the building of a united and democratic South Africa. It also outlines the socio-economic rights that citizens are entitled to such as the right to water, social security, housing, education, health and others.
We have made it our duty as the ANC since 1994, to work with the people to ensure the enjoyment of these rights through the delivery of quality services. Local government is an important sphere through which these services are delivered because it is closest to the people.
We have come a long way in transforming and improving local government since the dawn of freedom.
Before 1994, there were over a thousand local authorities for white people, Africans in urban areas, African communities in homelands, as well as Indian and colouredcommunities. The arrangement was designed to systematically divide the South African people along racial lines.
The ANC government has fundamentally changed this by establishing a democratic system of local governance that seeks to unite people and build better communities.
The ANC theme for 2016 is Advancing People’s Power – Local Government is in your hands.
In line with this theme, we are moving a step further in making people the centre of governance.
We have heard your concerns about the manner in which councillors were chosen in the past. It is for this reason that we have involved communities in the process of nominating candidates for the forthcoming 2016 municipal elections.
This has helped in choosing the best candidates to be ANC public representatives.
We have also heard the call for councillors to be more visible and accessible. We have thus ensured that our councillors hold report back and feedback meetings with their communities and will continue to improve on this.
In cases where some ANC councillors did not perform well, we encouraged communities to hold them accountable and report their concerns. We have acted on these concerns by replacing some councillors and strengthening others.
Going forward, we will require councillors to sign performance and accountability agreements.
In rural communities, our councilors will work together with traditional leaders as partners in development.
We will also ensure that all communities participate in municipal programmes and activities and are part of governing their communities and municipalities.
Compatriots,
We made commitments about building a better life in 2011 during the last municipal elections.
We are pleased to report that a lot has been achieved to date, building on progress we have made consistently since 1994.
I would like to report on some of the progress made in the delivery of basic services.
The percentage of households that are connected to electricity supply has increased from about seventy percent in 2001 to eighty six percent in 2014. This amounted to more than five million households.
Figures also show that more than two million households who are extremely poor, were exempted from paying for electricity by 2014 through the indigent programmes.
Imizi eminingi ezindawenizasemakhaya nasemalokishiniisifakelwe ugesi. Abahluphekakakhulu abawukhokheli ugesi umabebhalisa kwamasipala, batholeimvume.
Impilo isingcono kakhulu kubantubakithi ngenxa kahulumeni we-ANC,esebenza ebambisene nabantu.
In the next five years, we will expand the electrification programme to the remaining areas and will roll out solar energy in certain areas.
Significant progress has been made in increasing the number of households with access to water infrastructure.
Between 2001 and 2014, the percentage of households with access to piped water increased from sixty one percent in 2001 to ninety percent in 2014.
Households receiving free basic water services increased from seven million to eleven million in 2013, thus improving the quality of life of many, especially women in rural areas.
To further expand access to water in the next five years, we will increase the capacity of existing dams, build new dams and improve water treatment infrastructure.
Sanitation means dignity for our people and its provision is very important to the ANC. The ANC government will continue working hard to provide this service.
Between 2002 and 2014, the ANC government increased access to basic sanitation services from over sixty two percent to seventy nine percent. In the next five years, we will roll out sanitation facilities in informal settlements and rural municipalities.
We are also building cleaner communities.
More than fifty five percent of households had access to refuse removal and collection in 2001, and the figure had increased to sixty four percent by 2014.
The ANC will intensify cleaning campaigns in towns and cities and increase the number of households with access to refuse removal, in the next five years.
We will also strengthen the enforcement of municipal by-laws on anti-dumping to maintain a healthy environment.
Compatriots and comrades,
It is of concern to the ANC that many of our people, especially the youth, are sitting at home doing nothing because the economy is not growing fast enough to create much needed jobs.
Our country, our continent and the world are experiencing slow economic growth.
The ANC has a concrete plan in place to respond to the slow growth and create jobs. Our municipalities, guided by the National Development Plan, will place job creation and sustainable livelihoods at the centre of their local economic programmes.
At the national level, a nine point plan is being implemented by the ANC government to boost economic growth and job creation in various sectors such as the ocean economy, agriculture, mining, the energy sector, information and technology, water and sanitation and tourism among others.
Last week right here in Port Elizabeth, we announced that the ocean economy had unlocked economic opportunities worth seventeen billion rand. We also announced that the Transnet National Ports Authority had allocated over seven billion rand to upgrade the country’s ports. This is just an example of what is being done to boost economic growth in various sectors.
The ANC is also assisting those who are struggling due to unemployment and poverty.
Through social grants, the expanded public works programme, the indigent policy and many other pro-poor policies, we have alleviated the social and economic living conditions of many families in distress.
The majority of the sixteen thousand beneficiaries of social grants are orphans and vulnerable children.
The ANC government will also continue to alleviate unemployment through the Expanded Public Works programme.
Amatoho atholakala ngohlelolwemisebenzi yemiphakathikahulumeni, lusiza abaningiikakhulukazi omama nentsha.
Balungisa imigwaqo, basebenzaezinkulisa, bahlanza izakhiwozikahulumeni, balwa nemililoemahlanzeni kanye nokuningi okunyeukuze abantu basuse ikati eziko.
Between 2004 and 2014, the
Expanded Public Works Programmecreated over five million work opportunities for the poor and unemployed.
Most importantly, the Expanded Public Works Programme has exceeded its target of fifty five percent for women and forty percent for youth. To date, sixty percent of participants are women and fifty percent are young people.
At the municipal level, we have expanded the community works programmes participation from forty five municipalities in 2011 to one hundred and ninety six municipalities in 2015. We have increased the number of participants from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand.
Siyaqhuba, asidlali! Sishoda ngawenje kuphela! Ungasali, votelauKhongolose, umbutho wabantuosebenzayo, ngo-Agasti 3.
In the next five years we will ensure that municipalities strengthen the structures of Local Economic Development.
We will also ensure that municipalities incorporate science and technology into their programmes as catalysts for local economic development.
We will encourage our municipalities to support the township and village economies, including shops and cooperatives. Municipalities must buy goods and services from these local businesses.
The ANC will also encourage local businesses to promote youth employment and entrepreneurship.
The ANC will also encourage municipalities to do better in the fight against illegal trading. Traders must be known and must be registered, and this sector must provide opportunities for local youth.
To promote food security, the ANC will provide residents with information about programmes on sustainable agriculture and rural development. We will assist rural smallholder farmers to access municipal land for food production and sustainable agriculture.
We will also collaborate with farmers to create better working and living conditions for farm workers.
To further promote rural economic development, we will work with traditional leaders to ensure that communal land under the trusteeship of traditional leaders is accessible and available for development and economic growth.
To further improve the lives of our youth and enable them to apply for jobs and participate in the economy, we will expand broadband access in local government, including through the popular free Wi-fi areas.
Compatriots
We have heard the complaints about outsourcing.
We will discourage municipalities from outsourcing the basic services that they are able to render themselves.
In those municipalities without the capacity to render services themselves, we will develop sound regulatory and monitoring mechanisms for the outsourced municipal services.
The ANC will also engage with municipalities and organized labouron the introduction of flexible shifts to promote greater access to municipal services.
Comrades, the ANC will not work alone. We will promote a culture of dialogue and build a social compact for local growth and development.
We will strengthen local partnerships with the private sector, trade unions and community based organisations to enhance service delivery.
Comrades and compatriots
The ANC government has expanded access to health and education since dawn of freedom.
Municipalities play a key role in health care provision. We are happy to report that South Africans are now living longer due to improved health care.
The average life expectancy increased from fifty three years in 2004 to sixty two years in 2015.
The massive roll out of HIV and AIDS treatment since 2009 has contributed to this dramatic improvement in the health of our people.
Abantu abaphila negciwane le-HIV sebephila impilo engcono kakhulu, nempilo ende ngoba amaphilisiasetholakala kalula, mahhala futhi.Akusafani nakuqala lapho lesisifosengculazi besibaqeda abantu sidalausizi emphakathini. Lolushintsholulethwe uhulumeni kaKhongolose.
Siyaqhuba, asidlali, sishoda ngawenje kuphela!
Ungasali, votela uKhongolose, umbutho wabantu osebenzayo, ngo-Agasti 3.
Improved treatment is also being provided by clinics and hospitals for many other illnesses as well such as tuberculosis, malaria, diabetes and high blood pressure.
We will take the health care improvements forward in the next five years.
We will encourage people to be checked annually for diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, eye problems and cancers and further expand HIV and AIDs and tuberculosis programmes.
We want clinics that put the people first, which have caring staff and which do not run out of medicines.
In this regard, we will work with the provincial and national departments to deliver ideal clinics through the new Operation Phakisa programmethat we have introduced.
We will also ensure that clinics are built and prepared for the implementation of the National Health Insurance.
Comrades and fellow South Africans,
The ANC government has also made strides in providing shelter to millions of our people. We have provided four million subsidized housing opportunities.
In the next five years, the ANC municipalities will invest in the upgrading and integration of informal settlements to further improve the quality of life.
We will mobilise funding for the rehabilitation, refurbishment and replacement of the aging infrastructure, and also improve transport, roads and bridges across municipalities.
We will also prioritise sports and recreational facilities as part of the municipal infrastructure programmes.
The infrastructure development programme has been valuable. It has created opportunities for young graduates, apprentices and experiential learners.
Compatriots,
We wish to reiterate that educationremains the apex priority of the ANC. Investment in education will assist us to achieve all our socio-economic development goals.
Our policies and programmes have opened the doors of learning.
More than nine million children at primary and secondary schools benefit from school-feeding schemes. Further, more than nine million children do not pay school fees because they come from poor households.
Izingane zinikwa ukudla mahhalaezikoleni futhi izigidi eziningizezingane zifunda mahhala ngobaziphuma emakhaya antulayo.
We will continue to improve learning and teaching. We will work with parents, teachers, students and relevant stakeholders to take the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign to communities.
We have offered more opportunities for the children of the poor in higher education institutions. Student loans are now being converted into bursaries for qualifying final-year students.
Students in further education and training colleges who qualify for financial aid are now exempted from paying fees.
We await the findings of the judicial commission of inquiry with regards to the funding of higher education.We know that this matter is very important to young people. It is also very important to the ANC.
We will promote community ownership of schools, colleges, universities and other public education facilities.
We will also speed up the provision of libraries and library resources to a further eight hundred schools.
Comrades and compatriots,
Progress is being made in the fight against crime and corruption.
A total of two hundred and thirty four government officials were arrested, tried and convicted for corruption related offences since 2014.
Orders were obtained to freeze assets gained through wrongful means, to the value of six hundred and one million rand during the 2015/2016 financial year.
Government has recovered a total of four billion rand since 2009.
The anti-fraud and anti-corruption programmes continue.
At the municipal level, in the next five years, we will ensure that all ANC councillors abide by the ANC’s code of conduct.
The ANC will prevent municipal officials and councillors and their immediate family members from doing business with municipalities.
The ANC will ensure the implementation of recommendations emanating from forensic investigations conducted in municipalities.
The ANC will hold corrupt municipal officials and councillorsliable for the losses incurred by the municipality as a result of their corrupt actions.
The ANC government will also pursue action against companies involved in bid rigging, price fixing and corruption in procurement.
In the next five years, the ANC will work with communities to fight crime by strengthening the community safety forums and forming street committees.
The ANC will encourage municipalities to enter into partnerships with Business AgainstCrime with community based organisations and NGOs.
The ANC will also embark on massive campaigns against drug and substance abuse in our communities.
Importantly, the ANC will continue to work with all sectors to end violence against women and childrenin our communities.
The ANC will involve traditional leaders in crime fighting efforts in rural communities.
Together let us build crime and corruption free communities and workplaces.
Compatriots
Climate change requires all of us to play a role to ensure that it does not destroy our future.
In this regard, we will establish and develop the municipal capacity to manage disaster risks that may be presented by the changing climate.
Compatriots and comrades,
Let me emphasise that in the next five years, the ANC will improve the functioning of municipalities through the
implementation of the Back to Basics programme.
We will bring additional engineering, project planning and financial management skills to municipalities.
The ANC will also build the capacityto undertake long term planning as well as monitoring and evaluation in municipalities. This will include early warning mechanisms to identify areas where challenges may arise.
Most importantly, the ANC will also develop the capacity to address challenges related to the non-payment of bulk suppliers and the recovery of money owed to municipalities by communities, government departments and businesses.
We will roll out the Batho Pele citizen care programme to improve delivery of services.
In this regard, we will address challenges related to billing systems. The ANC will also enhance the system to protect indigent or poor households.
Fellow South Africans,
The ANC remains committed to the assertion in the Freedom Charter that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
This assertion is now immortalised in the Constitution of the Republic.
A vote for the ANC is a vote for a united, non-racial, democratic, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa. It is a vote for the Constitution of the Republic.
Compatriots
Our Manifesto, which we are humbly presenting to you today, providesdetails of our plans for transforming our towns, cities and villages.
Only the ANC, the governing party,is better placed, experienced and determined to bring about more meaningful change to the lives of our people.
Sithi kubantu base-Mzansi Afrikanamhlanje, votelani ukhongoloseumbutho wabantu, umbutho wenungomhlaka 3 August kulonyaka.
UKhongolose umbutho owaholaumzabalazo waletha inkululekokulelizwe.
Umbutho osuwenze lukhuluukushintsha izimpilo zabantukusukela ngonyaka ka1994.
Labo abasalindile, ezingakafiki kuboizinhlelo zikahulumeni nezidingo, siyeza, sizofika.
I-ANC izozishintsha izimpilo zabobonke abantu.
Asisoze siphumule uma kusekhonaabantu abahluphekayo ezwenilakithi.
Siyaqhuba, asidlali. Sishoda ngawenje kuphela!
Umhlaka 3 ku-Agasti elamanqamu.Its D-Day. Votela Ukhongolose, umbutho wakho.
Compatriots, local government is in your hands. Vote ANC on the 3rd of August and together we shall build better communities.
I thank you.
Amandla!
Issued by the ANC, 16 April 2016
