While historically disadvantaged communities have nothing to lose by voicing their anger about unreliable delivery of basic resources such as clean water, sewerage and garbage collection, electricity and state healthcare, those with the means to pay for private alternatives are successfully challenging legislation designed to make them completely dependent on dysfunctional service-providers.
General dissatisfaction among all South Africans is growing, as was evident on 30 September this year at the Unite Against Corruption marches held in Pretoria and Cape Town. An alliance of nine trade unions, 37 civil society organisations and 500 NGOs came together to create the new campaign, which is one of the biggest public protests in post-apartheid history.
Mark Heywood, Executive Director of Section 27, a public-interest law centre, has been a very vocal supporter of the initiative, arguing that democracy is more about voting in that it extends to how one participates in society. He says: “If we don’t take responsibility for ourselves and our environment, it’s to our own detriment. We can’t trust the government or politicians to act in the best interests of the people.
What’s unique about our Constitution and its legislation is that it gives ordinary people immense power to demand accountability and also to direct policy.
“The Unite Against Corruption march targets ordinary South Africans – rich, poor and middle-class – and speaks to everyone’s needs. There’s a huge degree of commonality – it’s pragmatic, rather than ideological. We need middle-class whites and businesses to stand side by side with the poorest of the poor.”
Heywood cites businesswoman and philanthropist Wendy Appelbaum’s fight against garnishee orders as a prime example of how citizens can use the Constitution and legal system to challenge abuses.
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