The government they deserve?
International politics was dominated this week by what President Barack Obama described as his "shellacking" in the mid-term elections, when US citizens used the power of their vote to express their frustration at the sluggish pace of economic recovery.
I reflected on this during my visit on Friday to Indermark, a small rural village of about 5,000 souls, 90 minutes drive north of Polokwane in Limpopo. Indermark falls within the Blouberg municipality where the ANC routinely gets over 90% of the vote, election after election.
The main purpose of my visit was to "turn on the tap" that will provide the community with a reliable, accessible source of water.
There are other taps dotted around Indermark, but they are dry. A water system, installed by the municipality before the 2006 local elections, has never worked. People told me they buy water at R10 per plastic drum from the few people who have their own borehole. There is no such thing as the "free basic services" (the norm in DA-run municipalities) for the poverty-stricken community of Indermark.
A group of local DA activists decided to do something about the water crisis. They approached potato farmers, Koos and Jimmy van der Amstel, who agreed to provide a borehole, a tank, a pump and a tap (as well as ongoing maintenance and electricity) so that the Indermark community can have a reliable source of free water.