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South Africans vote in fifth democratic elections

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FINDING accommodation in volatile Bloemhof this election week was difficult. By the start of the week all prime accommodation in the small North West town, marked among South Africa’s election hotspots, was taken by the police.

Violence in Bloemhof, which falls under embattled Lekwa Teemane municipality, broke out just over a month before this week’s elections.

In Boitumelong township, houses belonging to the African National Congress (ANC) mayor and party councillors, as well as those of the local police, were burned down.

Residents also blocked the N12 corridor connecting Johannesburg and Cape Town, along which Bloemhof lies, with obstacles and stoned passing vehicles. Schools were disrupted.

However, Tuesday’s state intervention — police were sent to the town to keep the peace — seemed to achieve the opposite of its intended goal, which was to make those who want to vote feel protected.

Instead, the presence of police created expectations that something was likely to go wrong and that violence might erupt again. This contributed to the low voter turnout of about 4% of the 12,000 registered voters by midday. Polling stations close at 9pm.

As long queues snaked into voting stations throughout the country, residents in Boitumelong were mostly seen in their yards going about their daily chores.

Analysts have predicted that a low voter turnout could dent the ruling African National Congress’ (ANC’s) performance and boost the opposition.

"It does not help," a young man said on his way to Boitumelong township on Tuesday, referring to police presence.

He said people were traumatised by the recent violent unrest and were frightened when they saw the police.

At about 7pm on Tuesday, a security cluster meeting that was attended by leaders of different political parties in preparation for the polls was concluded.

Municipal corruption has been cited as the reason for protests. The protestors wanted the Lekwa Teemane municipality to be dissolved and mayor Moeder Makodi to resign. The situation in Bloemhof drew the attention of the provincial ANC government and the party leaders, but some of the leaders had to be evacuated as residents refused to stop the violence until those who were arrested were released.

The ANC has stuck to the rules, saying elected officials cannot just be removed on a whim. But, young people Business Day spoke to were adamant that the party "will not force the mayor down our throats".

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On Monday, the more than 250 people who had been arrested during the unrest were released, some having spent close to a month in jail. The move seemed to be part of the attempts to broker a truce ahead of election day. They paid bail of between R200 and R1,000 each.

Lekwa Teemane has a population of more than 53,000. Its main economic sectors include farming, mining, manufacturing, construction and trade. In the 2011-12 financial year, the municipality got a disclaimer on its audit. Its year-end balance was in overdraft, suggesting that it might be forced to pay debt from funds earmarked for development.

Total unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to more than R53m of the R150m revenue — mostly from service charges and government grants. Councillor remuneration increased from R2m in 2010-11 to R3m in 2011-12. In the same period, maintenance and repairs expenditure dropped from R4m to R3m. The bad state of roads in Bloemhof central business district provided evidence of this decline.

Looking deeper, those attacked in the recent public violence were seen to be a part of a cabal in the ANC that was running the embattled Lekwa Teemane municipality. The cabal is surrounded by businessmen owning bottle stores, taxis, taverns and shops. Some do business with the municipality and score big tenders, in some cases, as highlighted audit reports, without meeting the prescribed criteria.

Local ANC leader Peter Letebele has been identified as one of the masterminds behind the unrest, an allegation he denied. Mr Letebele, who described himself as a community leader, says the legitimate concerns around the bad running of the municipality were hijacked by elements who stoned cars and burnt properties.

The protest, according to an prominent source, started with a prime piece of council land the size of a soccer pitch, valued at more than R100,000, but allegedly sold to a businessman with close ties to the ANC for R20,000. Four churches had applied to council to build on the land. Follow ups on these applications led to the discovery that council had already sold the land. It was also discovered that at least four other huge pieces of land in the township had also been disposed of to politically connected individuals.

Ms Makodi told Business Day there were "two thorny issues" in Bloemhof: the state of the roads and unemployment. The council was negotiating with province and national for possible funding to fix the road networks.

Unemployment made payment for municipal services unaffordable for the majority of residents.

Ms Makodi said the low revenue collection in turn affected the council’s ability to pay creditors within the prescribed 30-day period, resulting in huge interest fees that reflect in the audit reports as wasteful expenditure. She said the reduction in maintenance budget in the 2011-12 financial year was recommended by the chief financial officer, who came in after the post had remained vacant in the 2010-11 financial year. She said a high budget was "unrealistic" due to low revenue.

Ms Makodi said the councillors who bought municipal land in Boitumelong followed standard procedure. "They went through the processes like any other person. The law does not stop councillors from applying for land," she said. She said the price of the land was determined in the municipality’s valuation roll. "Councilors do not deal with land issues," she said.