There were more protests around the country in the first three months of this year than in any equivalent period since 1994, a government deputy minister said.
Yunus Carrim, the deputy minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, said in the National Council of Provinces on Friday that the protests were also becoming more violent.
"Most of the protests are about service delivery issues, but they are not just about that.
"Many of the protests have been taking place in better-performing wards and municipalities where there has, in fact, been significant service delivery," he said.
Carrim said people often took to the streets to protest against their "relative deprivation" after seeing neighbours get the services - like houses, electricity or sanitation - that they were still waiting for.
"The protests are also about a range of other municipal issues, including maladministration, nepotism, fraud, corruption and the failure of councillors and administrators to listen," he said.
"But it is the rage of sections of the protesters and the extent of violence and destruction they wreak that is striking. It reflects a far more fundamental alienation of people from our democracy."
The scale and nature of the protests suggested people were coming to see themselves as "outsiders", while others were being taken into the system and given better circumstances.
He cautioned that some people had been excluded for so long - first under apartheid and now under democratic rule - that just giving them what they ask for might not be enough to make them good citizens.
"They are, I think, constantly going to pose a challenge to our democracy, and we will have to come to terms with this."
Carrim said the protests could also reflect "a culture of dependency on the state we have unwittingly created since 1994", with people expecting to get good things without having to work for them.
"There are also internal power struggles within the ANC-led alliance. This includes key activists positioning themselves to become councillors in 2011 by mobilising residents against the current councillors.
"Of course, their ability to do so is linked to the poor performance of many councillors. But the struggles are also about access to tenders and other opportunities for individual profiteering."
Carrim listed a series of actions the state could take to enhance its response to protests, but said the key would be to accelerate the review of the powers and functions of the national, provincial and local governments, and to ensure that they worked together more effectively.
Yunus Carrim, the deputy minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, said in the National Council of Provinces on Friday that the protests were also becoming more violent.
"Most of the protests are about service delivery issues, but they are not just about that.
"Many of the protests have been taking place in better-performing wards and municipalities where there has, in fact, been significant service delivery," he said.
Carrim said people often took to the streets to protest against their "relative deprivation" after seeing neighbours get the services - like houses, electricity or sanitation - that they were still waiting for.
"The protests are also about a range of other municipal issues, including maladministration, nepotism, fraud, corruption and the failure of councillors and administrators to listen," he said.
"But it is the rage of sections of the protesters and the extent of violence and destruction they wreak that is striking. It reflects a far more fundamental alienation of people from our democracy."
The scale and nature of the protests suggested people were coming to see themselves as "outsiders", while others were being taken into the system and given better circumstances.
He cautioned that some people had been excluded for so long - first under apartheid and now under democratic rule - that just giving them what they ask for might not be enough to make them good citizens.
"They are, I think, constantly going to pose a challenge to our democracy, and we will have to come to terms with this."
Carrim said the protests could also reflect "a culture of dependency on the state we have unwittingly created since 1994", with people expecting to get good things without having to work for them.
"There are also internal power struggles within the ANC-led alliance. This includes key activists positioning themselves to become councillors in 2011 by mobilising residents against the current councillors.
"Of course, their ability to do so is linked to the poor performance of many councillors. But the struggles are also about access to tenders and other opportunities for individual profiteering."
Carrim listed a series of actions the state could take to enhance its response to protests, but said the key would be to accelerate the review of the powers and functions of the national, provincial and local governments, and to ensure that they worked together more effectively.
To read the full speech click here
- Sunday Times
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