Who you vote for in the upcoming local government elections does matter, and no one should be given a pass because the job is hard or long.
WhatsApp groups, TikTok, X, and Facebook community groups were in chaos mode recently when a Joburg councillor was caught playing video games during a council meeting.
It was the Temu version of sleeping politicians in Parliament and ministers who like a good game of Candy Crush.
The councillor defended his “break” and said he had been participating in the marathon-long meeting. But with local government elections only eight weeks away, it was enough to have the sky fall down.
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View MapSome accused him of being lazy and “useless”, while others argued that councillors are human too, with human urges to play video games.
So are our friendly neighbourhood spiderman councillors actually being held to an impossible standard? Or should they be reminded that “with great power comes great responsibility”?
A thankless job?
Councillors have a really difficult job. They have to represent a diverse constituency, all of whom believe that some services are more valuable than others and that their concerns are the most important.
Nearly all councillors are accused of playing favourites, prioritising some areas over others.
But they play an important role in taking resident grievances to council, passing vital budgets, and, most importantly, holding officials to account.
Where have they been?
So, where have they been when it was announced this week that the city’s swimming pools will not be opening as normal for Spring? Or when teachers at schools in their areas were being intimidated? Or when the lights went out in several areas unexpectedly? Or during the ongoing Pikitup battle to collect bins?
They often complain about being ignored, but so have the residents of the city for decades, and they have access that their voters don’t, even if the door is often closed in their face.
It can be a thankless job, but they have signed up for it with the full knowledge of the difficulties ahead. They must be ready for the scrutiny, because it is the same pressure we expect them to put on service providers and leaders on our behalf.
They are public representatives with a commitment to put their communities first, not part-time cheerleaders who show up to council whenever and however they want. If communities are failing, the first question needs to be where the councillor is and what they are doing about it.
More dangerous is that in many cases these same councillors are the ones who preach reform, accountability, and impartial enforcement from the pulpit but look the other way when their friends or fellow party members are breaking the rules. Councillors, meant to be the champions of the community, are then nothing more than the criminals they profess to be fighting.
Even with some decent councillors, the City is falling apart. Without them, it completely collapses.
So, who you vote for in the upcoming local government elections does matter, and no one should be given a pass because the job is hard or long.
