While I agree with the notion that South Africa has substantial legislation that makes it imperative for the government to be open and transparent in all its dealings, I am of opinion legislation, policies, frameworks and other related writings do not actually mean that government is open and transparent in practice.
It requires a political will from the highest levels of government to create an open and transparent society wherein political leadership finds itself without fear to account to citizens.
At this stage, South Africa needs political leadership and technocrats in public administration that do not confuse public feedback with public participation.
The number of imbizos of government convenes does not reflect the extent of transparency and accountability.
What makes it impossible for the government to answer community concerns that prompted protest in Mankweng last year?
The people of Malamulele are still waiting for answers and neither provincial nor national government wants to take responsibility.
It does not require an expert to answer why government plans and strategies fail to achieve their desired objectives. The answer is simple and to the point: government does not include civil society during planning, implementation and review of its plans and strategies.
It is not my intention to count the number of developmental plans and various government strategies that failed, but with all the new plans and strategies, residents want to know why we still have to replace economic policies and developmental strategies.
How many years into democracy will it take before we start to implement plans? Since we are not involved in crafting of our country’s development path, who are the architects of government’s developmental path?
Twenty years down the line government has been loaning plans after plans from pro-profit and pro-market entities at the expense of the poor, whose lives depend on government’s basic social services like health, education and water.
The above sentiment reminds me of the civil society groupings that existed during the early days of democracy in South Africa such as the Northern Province Movement for Delivery, Youth for Work, Julee Campaign and the Democracy Development Programme.
If a concept of participatory democracy, which we have been fighting for so long, is still meaningful, it is time that civil society stands up and take our rightful place in the country’s development agenda.
Time has arrived for the government to create an enabling environment for true participation.
Twenty years down the line, we have reduced the ideal of people-centred development to merely a preamble. As we usher in a new era of changes to political landscape in Southern African countries, we need to develop a new generation of civil leadership that will carry out the task of claiming back the role of civil society in relation to the country’s development agenda.
Ramakola Bopape is the Coordinator of Capricorn District Community Based Organisations (CBO) Forum. He writes in his personal capacity.
