Poor service delivery boosts migration to major centres
NOT too long ago Helen Zille unleashed a storm of protest and some decidedly ungracious rhetoric when she dared to suggest that thousands of Eastern Cape learners are flocking to Cape Town and surrounding areas to access better quality education.
Predictably, she was called everything from a racist and an elitist to an old-fashioned
opstoker. The one label that found little to no traction, however, was “liar” – because most of us who live here know only too well how many of our friends and family are indeed looking to head west at the first opportunity. With Zille’s claims now thoroughly vindicated by official Census statistics – more than 250 000 people have migrated from the Eastern to the Western Cape – the real question is no longer if people are abandoning our province, but rather what this means for those of us who stay.
Of course, education is but one reason on a very long list of why people are relocating, and not only to the Western Cape. Health care, personal safety, infrastructure security, a better quality of life. These are all factors which play an increasingly important role as families grow and parents age.
Speak to anyone who is nearing retirement age in particular, and they are more than likely to confirm that the Eastern Cape – even the two major metropolitan areas – is simply not retirementfriendly. What good are beautiful beaches and our exquisite scenery when you are afraid to leave the (relative) safety of your front door? And what good are our many excellent retirement facilities when incompetent municipalities are putting even essential services at risk through poor planning and even poorer execution?
With a population of around 6.5 million, 200 000 disappearing acts might not seem all that significant.
What many people fail to realise is that like every other province, the Eastern Cape’s budget is directly linked to its population. As people leave for other provinces, our share of national treasury allocations become smaller while go-to provinces get ever-bigger slices of a static pie. And so the vicious circle loops in perpetuity: Our already struggling public services get less money, delivery becomes poorer, residents become more despondent and migration becomes an increasingly attractive option.
Sadly, the dismal municipal audit results will send a few more of us scurrying north or west. And convince a few more who really do want to come home that there’s little to come to. It is not too late. Even the smallest signs of commitment and political integrity will pull many of the gearing-to-goes back home, where they would rather be. But the abject political failures reflected in the audit results suggest time is running out. Fast.