We must save provinces

BY MANNY DE FREITAS

I  read with interest your front page story “Rethink on provinces” of The Southern Cross of November 7-23. I had also read the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) briefing paper on this subject, authored by CPLO researcher Dadisai Taderera.

Ms Taderera argues that the current provincial structure of the country was “due to a compromise aimed at placating competing political interests during the transition period in the 1990s”. The implication here is that this is a bad thing. In truth this is a good thing.

Firstly, this is democracy in action: where different parties argue their “corner” with the aim of meeting their objectives as much as possible, yet simultaneously compromising where possible and necessary.

Secondly, had compromises on these and many other issues not been reached it would’ve meant some stalemate or even civil war as an alternative.

Ms Taderera claims that there is “broad consensus on the need to review the provincial system”, but on what basis is she saying this? I, for one, do not feel that the system needs to be reviewed, but strengthened.

She states that the primary issue is “power dynamics” and the “need for a more sustainable system of governance and service delivery” and the need for “an efficient and effective governance structure that can deliver goods and services to uplift the poor and to narrow inequalities”. Although we can all agree on the unacceptable level of service delivery and the need to provide the required delivery to everyone, I fail to see how reducing the number of provinces, for example, would solve these problems.

Ms Taderera made no reference to the constant and unabated corruption that is taking place at all tiers of government. This continued and escalating corruption regresses and destroys any attempt of service delivery. She mentions nothing about the complete obsession with the ruling party to control every nook and cranny of every lever of power.

It is clear that the African National Congress has one objective in mind: to centralise power and prevent a viable challenge to the ANC at provincial level. It appears that the ANC has made up its mind about the future of the provinces. The only question is whether it wants to reduce their number, change their powers, or abolish them altogether.

At the Democracy and Development conference that Ms Taderera attended, an academic explained how provinces had been undermined in his home country of Ghana. Soon after its 1957 independence, Ghana’s provinces were turned into “regions”, and their previous provincial powers increasingly and gradually were concentrated in the central state. When the ruling party sensed a challenge emerging in any region, regional boundaries were changed to pre-empt the challenge. Simultaneously, more and more “regions” were established in order to create more paid positions for political associates and to “buy-off” potential challengers.

Almost all examples of failed transitions to democracy indicate that the root cause of the problem is political patronage—what the ANC calls “cadre deployment”.

It is true that some provinces and many local governments have not functioned optimally. The question to ask is: why not? We need to diagnose the problem correctly if we want to find the right solution. But is the ANC interested in finding a solution? I doubt it. The dismal functioning of some provinces is a useful pretext for it to centralise its own control.

Ms Taderera criticises the Democratic Alliance for having a “vested interest in maintaining the status quo as they control the Western Cape, and abolishing the province would disturb their stronghold”. Interestingly, Ms Taderera says nothing of the fact that the Western Cape is functioning well. Unbiased proof of this is the fact that the Western Cape obtained 100% unqualified audit reports for all provincial departments and entities. This is the first province to have ever done this—and within a year of its election as a DA provincial administration. No ANC-governed province has ever achieved a full slate of unqualified audit reports.

The current administration of the Western Cape is a clear example of how a province can actually work.

In the debate over the future of our provinces, it is crucial that citizens, commentators and researchers alike do not simply swallow the ANC’s reasoning. The most rudimentary research will demonstrate that the reasons currently being advanced are spurious. This is about power and control.

It is unfortunate that so many people do not see the impact that scrapping or reducing the provinces will have on our democracy. There is nothing the ANC won’t do when there is a possible threat that it may lose power at the ballot box.

And if the ANC is willing to get rid of the provinces to prevent another party from governing at provincial level, one wonders what it will do to retain power at national level?

Manny de Freitas is a member of parliament for the Democratic Alliance and shadow deputy minister of transport. He is a parishioner of Malvern, Johannesburg.