Evidence shows DA-run municipalities best at delivering to poor households

There is often a ‘but’ which follows any testimony to the effect that people should vote for the DA because it governs well. “But not for the poor,” chimes the rebuttal.

This pervasive sentiment is at odds with various metrics, accolades, and rankings heaped on DA-run municipalities and the City of Cape Town in particular.

Municipalities in the Western Cape support proportionately more indigent households than other provinces:

The 2019 Non-financial census of municipalities published by Statistics South Africa reveals that across key service delivery metrics: i.e. water, sewerage and sanitation, electricity, and waste management, the municipalities in the Western support a greater share of indigent households (see tables 1-4).

Municipalities use different criteria to define who qualifies as indigent, i.e. severely impoverished, but a large proportion of municipalities in the Western Cape use a higher Rand cut-off point, meaning a greater share of households can be captured than if they used a lower cut-off point (see table 5).

This data is self-reported by municipalities, but the most interesting data is from Gauteng which comes second to the Western Cape in all areas of support to indigent households. The number of indigent households in Gauteng went from 825 836 in 2018 to 325 672 in 2019 despite it having a population approximately twice the size of the Western Cape. Of course, the decline in indigent households greatly improves the picture for Gauteng. Western Cape’s figures of indigent households have increased year on year from 370 639 in 2018 to 372 454 in 2019.

DA Municipalities on average offer more, in some cases up to double, the National Guidelines for a subsidized basket of services (R575,59). The DA run Drakenstein Municipality for example offers a basket of subsidized services of R1 407,30 (see table 6). These services include subsidized Water, Electricity, Property Rates, Refuse Removal, Sanitation and extend to Municipal Rental Stock, Bulk Services and Building Plan fee rebates.

Even if one wished not to over-extend themselves in giving credit to the DA, this data is enough to conclude that the DA is not a laggard when it comes to delivering to the poor. Yet the DA receives the most significant rebuke in this regard. It is worrying when it comes from the public, but irresponsible when it comes from journalists-cum-columnists or analysts. Voter behaviour is complex and the reason the DA remains an opposition party in many municipalities is not due to non-delivery to the poor. That’s a narrative which many are at pains to drive despite a great deal of evidence to the contrary.

Furthermore, indigent support for services is not the only way in which poor households are impacted by local conditions.

DA-run municipalities use taxpayer money more prudently than those not governed by the DA:

The latest Auditor-General (AG) report on municipal audit outcomes shows that DA-run municipalities in the Western Cape and Midvaal, remain the best run in the country. The AG data is more well known so there is no need to replicate it here. It is worth mentioning, however, because sound financial management is often dismissed as a box-ticking exercise which says nothing about commitment to delivery. The reality is that poor households suffer disproportionately when funds are misspent because they are more vulnerable to shocks in service delivery and they rely on cross subsidisation more than affluent households. Making sure that a municipality’s finance are prudently handled cuts to the heart of service delivery. When a municipality’s financial management falls apart either it is symptomatic of a deeper rot or everything else falls apart soon after.

Of course, even the best performing party must be held to account. The DA run municipalities with the lowest unemployment rates in the country will still have unemployed persons. And despite supporting the greatest share of indigent households as a province, the Western Cape will have indigent households who are not currently supported. The concern is that the wrong conclusions are then drawn from these examples. Conclusions akin to:

1.       The DA does not deliver to the poor and is concerned only about wealthy residents.

2.       It doesn’t matter if the DA is better, it is still bad so there is no difference if you vote for the DA or any other party.

Even the best run cities in the world will have examples where they are falling short: Talinn in Estonia awarded as the greenest city in Europe by the European Commission still experiences protests related to the environment and will have areas in which they need to improve. Taking a camera to Talinn and documenting environmental shortcomings is fair enough but should not be without the context of it being the greenest city in Europe. That perspective is particularly important when voters have to make choices, which are about selecting the better choice.

The various rankings which get published placing the Wester Cape or the City of Cape Town on top are not compiled taking into account only the affluent areas. They include all areas, so there is no room to argue they are based on service provided to elite areas. The elite areas in the Western Cape are better than elite areas elsewhere, but so do poorer households fare better than they would elsewhere.

Providing services to poor households is a challenge across the country. It also often involves complex trade-offs. Incidentally the same voices who oppose evictions, which occur often because occupiers have settled on land unsuitable for settlement, then blame the DA government when the very thing a DA government warned would materialise then materialises e.g. lack of services, flooding etc. It is often these examples used as a rebuttal to the DA’s governance record.

There are some (coincidentally not poor) who are cynical enough to say that better is not enough. Only someone who does not struggle to access services, such as water and electricity, or has the luxury to make a different plan could argue that nothing or the status quo is better than incremental improvement. The dire situation in many municipalities will not be turned around overnight but indeed through sustained and incremental gains. The DA is the only party which can provide evidence of making them.

Gwen Ngwenya is the Head of Policy for the Democratic Alliance

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