Launched on 18 October 2021
The Manifesto for Peoples Power is our cry for decent lives ahead of the 2021 Local Government election.
Our country finds itself at the edge of a cliff with rising unemployment, violence and hunger. Yet all the dominant political parties have to offer voters ‘more-of-the-same’ empty promises.
At a local level people have to face water, and electricity cut-offs even where they pay for services. This is not just a result of corruption. It is also an outcome of systematic budget cuts and the outsourcing of services to profit making business interests imposed by the ANC and DA governments.
We have written the Peoples Manifesto to offer a new vision for government and for the fundamental transformation of our society.
The Manifesto calls for democratic and people-controlled municipalities that deliver services supplied in greater quantity and quality than at present, with no disconnections due to inability to pay, and no collective disconnections in our communities.
The Manifesto stands against the tender system, which breeds corruption. We are against contracts and jobs for people because of political connections. We want an end to privatisation and the outsourcing of municipal functions including in the form of public private partnerships. Workers should be insourced and paid a living wage.
The Manifesto does not end at local government. We want well financed municipalities that will require a massive increase in national budgets. The Manifesto stands for participatory budgets and planning, against budget cuts, and for higher taxes on the very rich and corporations.
The Manifesto includes a call on elected officials to not accept the large salaries that will draw them away from communities and to commit to respecting the Right To Recall – to be willing to resign if a significant section of their community is dissatisfied with their service.
We welcome any social movement, registered political party, or independent candidate with the vision and integrity to endorse the Manifesto for Peoples Power. Our people need leaders who will hold power accountable from within government as well as on the streets.