DURBAN – The African Democratic Change (ADeC) has made its contesting ward candidates sign a pre-written and undated resignation letter as a show of good faith to its potential voters ahead of the coming local government elections in November.
ADeC leader Visvin Reddy said the move came after residents from parts of the eThekwini Municipality voiced their concerns about councillors who were not accountable and were unavailable in times of crisis.
Reddy said the letters, which the candidates will sign on Thursday, would serve as a reminder that an ADeC councillor would serve the people and their needs.
With the party’s focus zooming in on service delivery and lower tariffs, the ADeC leader said the team members had background experience in legal, accounting, engineering and other related qualifications to be able to make a meaningful contribution to realigning the eThekwini Municipality.
Furthermore, he said, all ADeC candidates had a minimum qualification of Grade 12 and had undergone training courses to prepare them for the role of councillor.
“The Electoral Act of South Africa places more emphasis and power in the hands of political parties. The voter merely votes and political parties get to choose their candidates, with no involvement from the community. Ratepayers are left frustrated because calls for the removal of lazy, incompetent and inefficient councillors fall on deaf ears. It is for this reason that ADeC candidates have agreed to sign undated resignation letters which will be handed in to the municipality if most residents make the call.
“Last year, during the hard lockdown, many South Africans lost their jobs or had to take salary cuts. eThekwini councillors from all political parties unashamedly took their full salaries while they sat at home. On top of this they gave themselves a hefty increase. Tariffs were increased to accommodate the salary perks of councillors,” he said.
Reddy, a former ANC man who served as the deputy director of governance in the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) KZN department, said an audit of councillor qualifications in the province revealed shocking levels of illiteracy, making reference to a report presented by then Cogta MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube in 2018.
Dube-Ncube cited low education levels among councillors as one of the reasons that some municipalities were at risk of collapse. She said a large number of councillors elected in the 2016 local government elections had no post-matric qualification and in some instances councillors had no schooling at all.
jehran.naidoo@africannewsagency.co.za
Political Bureau