We will only engage those who act within the law

The right to freely assemble, and express grievances, is a keystone of our Constitution. So too is the right to have access to basic services. When people are denied basic rights of access, there is a legitimate basis for public appeal and lawful demonstration. Governing is essentially a two-way process that relies on a feedback mechanism: governments work to provide a range of services and citizens let government know where corrections need to be made.

These rights are the lifeblood of our democracy and ensure that governments are responsive all the time and not just when the voting stations are being set up.

However, these rights, and the very logic of democracy, are threatened when people take to violent and unlawful protests. The entire machinery of government responsiveness is defined within the parameters of the law, jurisprudence which must ultimately be consistent with the Constitution, which has the human rights of the individual at its heart.

As such, unlawful protests, by definition, cannot be part of the relationship of government/citizen interaction that sees government adjusting plans and delivery according to needs. Indeed, unlawful protests activate a different kind of government machinery that sees the priority shifting to restoring the equilibrium of law and order and not delivery roll-outs.

That is why we encourage citizens with grievances to use the many legal means of expression available to them. To maintain this system, we will only engage ourselves with those who act within the law.

Violent service delivery protests will never get communities an audience with the City. Peaceful appeals always will.

I visited Sir Lowry's Pass Village yesterday. But I did so only on condition that people stop violently protesting. I will return on Sunday to deal fully with their concerns. And when I go back, I will tell them that we are committed to building a Caring and Inclusive City but that this is a city of 3.5 million people and that everyone is needed to give that vision life. We need citizens to work with us to make this an even better place to live.

Amid the strife of protesting communities, I am given heart that we are working to fulfil our potential.

Our Community Satisfaction Survey (CSS) was released in the past week. This survey allows us, through sample interviews, to determine what our strengths and weaknesses are by polling citizens for their impressions.

As a direct assessment of our relationship, I was pleased that the perceptions of the Mayor and senior City management have improved.

63% of residents say that overall, the City's performance was good, very good or excellent, up from 62% in 2010/11. 62% of residents rate the City as good, very good or excellent in fulfilling its role as a public service provide. And 69% of residents rate their level of trust in the City as fairly strong, very strong or extremely strong, up from 66% in 2010/11.

But we do not only measure our performance based on citizens' perceptions. To get a total picture of our delivery, we are assessed externally as well.

Also in the past week, the City yet again achieved exceptional results in the Department of Water Affairs' Blue-Drop - Drinking Water Quality Assessment of all municipalities.

The City received a Platinum Award for excelling in the Blue Drop Awards programme for four years in succession and our overall score for this year increased to 98.14%, up from 97.61% for the 2011 awards.

I believe that this is another affirmation that, as an overall package of delivery, we provide the best services in the country. And it is that level of delivery that is giving us a competitive advantage within South Africa.

According to Finweek magazine's Fintalk, ‘SA's best places to do business,' published on 12 April 2012, the average personal income for the City of Cape Town and the City of Johannesburg are now on a par, at R65 382 per person. What is more, according to the same article, Cape Town has a faster economic growth rate at 3.6% than Johannesburg's 3.4%.

Of course, these studies and figures are one sample and there are a range of other assessments with different methodologies available. But just as an indicator, it is a very positive sign that Cape Town is taking the lead as the dynamic engine of economic development in South Africa.

These awards, surveys and figures are not the whole picture. A total picture of delivery and economic and social development is a picture that is constantly repainted according to incoming information, a stream which is ever-constant. Knowing that, we must proceed with some caution but according to a sense of direction, which these snapshots provide.

We know that there is great income disparity. We know that not everyone is satisfied with services. We know that we have tremendous challenges to overcome. And we know that we will not always be able to satisfy everyone all of the time.

But we continue to work at it. We ask that people work with us, as our partners. We have a carefully-constructed constitutional framework that allows government to be responsive, but only within that framework. Its activation requires the lawful participation of citizens.

When I go back to Sir Lowry's Pass Village to deal with the community's grievances, I won't recite a list of statistics and awards. That is not what they want to hear. But I will tell them that the City of Cape Town is a proven provider of excellent services, one that is always trying to improve its performance.

All we need to enhance our delivery to everyone are partners who are willing to engage with us constructively.

This article by Patricia de Lille first appeared in Cape Town This Week: A weekly newsletter by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town.

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