SANKARIST PEOPLE'S LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANIFESTO
A proposal to the people!
This Manifesto is drafted and offered for discussion and adoption by all progressive and servant leadership of the local government for 2016. This manifesto does not belong to any political party, or any specific organisation or movement. It is a manifesto inspired by the commitment to serve the people displayed by Thomas Sankara. It is proposed in memory of Andries Tatane who died fighting for water and for a local government that puts the people first!
This manifesto contains the values of a Sankarist Local Government that puts people first and forces councillors to be accountable to the people and serve with dedication, sacrifice and commitment. Also the manifesto has proposals for securing the democratic choices of the people to elect their own local councillors. The people not the political party must choose their own representatives. The local government councillor is first and foremost the servant of the people who elected them. They must listen to the people not the political party bosses.
Disappointment
For the last 20 years we have experienced promises and lies. We have been disappointed! Our townships remain places of poverty, lack of housing, no jobs, bad healthcare and terrible schooling. We watch our children being destroyed by boredom. We watch hopelessly as their dreams are squashed and as they consequently surrender to drugs, alcohol and violence.
20 years after democracy the political dispensation has delivered neither freedom, services
nor an accountable system of governance. It is these structural failures which have lead to the brutal murder of comrade Andries Tatane and many after him during service delivery protests.
We stand with Andries Tatane!
In memory of Andries Tatane, brave committed son of the soil we need
to fight for a new and different country and local government. No
more shall those we elect enrich themselves at our expense and no more
shall they be accountable to their political parties and not their
people. Enough is enough! Now those we elect must serve us!
All Councillors must be servants
Irrespective of political affiliation, all candidates must commit and subject themselves to this manifesto. To this end candidates must undertake to:
1. Take their mandate to govern from the people who elect them not from
political parties.
2. Make all municipality land accessible for free to the people for housing and other development projects including agricultural purposes.
3. Decriminalize land occupations by the landless. Anyone who has waited for more than a year for housing or land has a legitimate right to occupy land to erect a home for her/himself.
4. End all evictions from land.
5. Make public the asset register of the municipality (no more theft of municipality assets).
6. Publicly publish the housing waiting list for all to see and clearly mark or indicate those who have received their houses.
7. Ensure that the total budget for salaries does not exceed 30% of the entire budget. To this end there must be parity of earnings between executives, councillors and general staff.
8. Open all council meetings to the public and have Monthly People’s Assemblies where the majority of people live (townships, informal settlements), so as to consult on all major decisions of council.
9. End the tender system with the exception that it should only apply in cases relating to highly specialized projects with the provision that the relevant specialized outsourced skill must commit to being in partnership with Local Government so as to build the local state capacity to deliver these services.
10. End privatization of services and reclaim/ reverse privatized state assets, including land sold to private companies.
11. Criminalize the use of police to supressed service delivery protests. Demanding basic services is not a crime.
12. Respond to all memoranda from the people within 24 hours.
13. Ensure that the local government is the largest employer providing secure employment and paying all a living minimum wage.
14. Place young unemployed people on a massive programme of socially relevant public works and on minimum wage, for further education including in skills development and for the purpose of rebuilding society (in terms of housing, schools, roads, transport, hospitals). End all cheap labour apprenticeships and unpaid internships. A guarantee of at least the minimum wage and a job at the completion of the internship / apprenticeship.
15. Institute an independent commission of inquiry on corruption. Those who steal from the people shall be encouraged to confess and repent, those who don’t cooperate shall meet the full might of the law. The principle is that those who steal from the people shall be made to account to them and take full responsibility for their actions.
16. Commit to a new vision of human settlement informed by principles of a secure, happy community.
17. Commit to being recalled through a popular vote on the basis that a petition reveals a thirty percent desire by the constituency for such a recall.
18. Commit to a democratic and transparent annual planning and review system in terms of which each area shall have a clear development plan reflecting the priorities. To this end the targets are to be determined by the Community and each ward's plan shall be made public.
19. Live in the constituency that elected them.
20. Adopt and sign the Sankara Oath before being elected as representatives and senior public servants (from mayor to councillor). This will ensure that they use public services and the consequent quality access of such services by all.
21.End the current executive system driven by perks. In this regard, end expensive luxuries such as expensive cars, high housing allowance etcetera.
22. Not live too far away from the life realities of those who elect them.
23. Ensure 50% women representation in all local government related processes and leadership.
These are the ideals of a new local government that puts people first!
Issued by the Sankara Politics and Policy School
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