A whole page was devoted to the question of service-delivery protests on June 23, and almost lost were a few lines: "Making matters worse, municipalities have followed rabid outsourcing of basic services. This has resulted in contracts for housing and service delivery being handed out to those who have political connections. Nepotism, corruption and patronage have become rife." My experience of service-delivery protests strongly suggests that this is the primary driver for protests. The protesters may be poor, they may be historically disadvantaged, they may be forgotten, but they are not stupid – they can read, like the rest of us, the auditor-general’s report. They can see people who have jobs in their municipalities awarding themselves contracts. They can see wealth being squandered – money which should go towards service delivery is being wasted on new cars, big houses and great whisky. If nothing else, last year’s municipal election should have been a wake-up call to the corrup...
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