Failed petitions fuel protests
GAUTENG ’ S petitions system – a formal way for communities to complain about service delivery issues – is failing and is unable to stem the tide of service-related protests.
Of the 75 petitions lodged by different communities since July 2014, none have been resolved to date.
Additionally, 106 petitions from previous years remain unresolved, although this appears to be in dispute.
Premier David Makhura, in a written reply to the Democratic Alliance’s Lebogang More last August, revealed that 215 petitions dating back to 2005 lay unresolved.
More, the party’s spokesman on petitions, told Sowetan that the provincial legislature ’ s petitions committee received up to eight new petitions each month while only managing to resolve one at each turn.
The legislature’s slow response to petitions may be causing community frustrations to spill over into the streets.
Asked whether the legislature thought there was a link between the slow resolving of petitions and the number of service delivery protests in Gauteng, legislature spokeswoman Khazi Sithole said: “There may be, but ... the speed with which the petitions are resolved depends on a number of issues, including that some require additional resources which may not have been budgeted [for] by the local authorities.
“Some of the issues contained in the petitions received ... are similar to those raised by protesting communities.”
Country-wide community frustrations with the slow pace of service delivery has seen the number of protests remaining high.
Johan Burger, of the Institute for Security Studies policing researcher, said 11 668 protests were recorded so far this financial year, with 1 907 labelled as unrest incidents – those that turned violent.
Municipal IQ recorded slightly fewer service-related protests (176), with the University of Johannesburg’s social change research unit tallying 368 protests, although the definition used was not limited to issues of basic services.
Roughly 55% of the petitions lodged in Gauteng related to local housing issues, a third to local government and the remainder to transport, health, education and sports and recreation. Petitions lodged include: Allocation of RDP houses; Illegal connection of electricity and provision of basic services; Title deeds; and Municipal billing system. Sithole said the resolution of petitions depends on the complexity of the issues and the speed with which the authorities can respond.