Potchefstroom resident Pitso Setona still believes that the ANC, which is in charge of the JB Marks municipality in North West, will uplift their lives of the community members.
This is despite complaints from residents that the municipality has a poor record in building new public infrastructure and maintaining the existing one.
Roads in Ikageng township, where Setona resides, are riddled with large potholes, a sign that they have not been maintained for years. Sewage spillages and illegal dumping sites are causing a serious headache for the community.
"I believe that the ANC does not have a problem but the people who get elected as councillors are the ones who are responsible for the service delivery failures and they can't be trusted," said Setona.
"We want the party to give us candidates who are honest and who will fulfill their promises. We don't want corrupt individuals because they are destroying the community."
The 40-year-old, who resides at an informal settlement with his wife and two children, said if there was service delivery there would also be job opportunities.
"There are many streets that have not been tarred. Building new roads and maintaining old ones would present job opportunities for local residents," he said.
The unemployed Setona told Sowetan he used to work for a construction company which paid him fluctuating wages.
"One week I would get paid R250 and the other R200. To be honest the job environment we are living in is in crisis.
"All I am asking for from the people we are going to vote for is that they should be people of their word. It doesn't help to be a ward councilor who pays the community a visit only when it is time to campaign for elections. They come here promising us heaven and earth but after the elections they disappear. This makes us as community members to want to give up hope in voting because it seems like elections are only there to uplift the lives of politicians. After people have been elected they completely change and behave as if they are not the ones who were busy campaigning for elections," Setona said.
He said he wants government to give them land for housing and create jobs, develop and maintain public infrastructure like roads and sewer.
Lawrence Menzi, who runs a spaza shop in Ikageng, doesn't expect anything from municipal leaders
"Even if the ANC officials could be replaced by leaders from an opposition party in the next election, they are going to focus on furthering their self interests. These parties are the same, they don't have the interests of black people at heart.
"This is why I don't ask for anything from government. Everything I have, I am generating it through my efforts, and I don't want assistance from government," Menzi said.
The 40-year-old father of one said the municipality recently advertised that it was offering financial support to local businesses. "When I went to apply for the assistance, they sent me from pillar to post. This has hurt me a lot.
"We need a municipality that will employ young people because there is a high number of black youth unemployment."
George Tsamayi, 39, advised that the incoming government should do away with the tender system and direct the funds into the municipality's payroll and hire more people.
"If you hire more employees instead of appointing tenderpreneurs to do jobs, it is easy to hold the workers accountable if they are not performing. Tenderpreneurs overcharge but yet deliver as minimum as possible and hire few workers to maximise on profit," Tsamayi told Sowetan.
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