Khayelitsha grandmother at heart of SACP services push
The SACP makes its case in Cape Town for affordable services as human rights.
For an unemployed grandmother in Khayelitsha, the price of water should not be the same as what a billionaire in Constantia pays. That comparison, offered by veteran South African Communist Party politician Phillip Dexter during an interview with CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit, sits at the heart of the party’s pitch to voters ahead of next month’s local government elections. The SACP regards water, electricity and sanitation as human rights rather than commodities, and it wants the cost of those services to reflect what households can actually afford.
Dexter was quick to clarify that this does not mean services would be entirely free. Instead, the party would ensure wealthy residents paid more and were taxed appropriately. It is one part of a broader promise to bring municipal services back under government control, create jobs and make councillors answer directly to the communities they serve.
The party is contesting local elections independently for the first time, even while remaining inside the Tripartite Alliance with the ANC and Cosatu. Dexter defended that decision, rejecting any suggestion of a breakaway. “The fact that we’re standing independently as the SACP is not a decision that makes the alliance something that we don’t want to be part of,” he said. He argued the Communist Party offers a different vision of the future, despite continuing to support the Freedom Charter and aims historically associated with the ANC.
On the question of services themselves, Dexter said ideology directly shapes how municipalities operate. In his view, local government has increasingly outsourced work to private companies, and that shift has come at residents’ expense. “Local government shouldn’t be about profit. It should be about basic services for all,” he said. The SACP wants municipalities to bring services back in-house, including work currently handled by private contractors.
Meanwhile, the party is equally critical of municipal tendering, which it sees as vulnerable to corruption. Dexter suggested public officials should be held personally accountable when they pay more for goods than they could have obtained elsewhere. “You don’t have to put out a tender to buy pencils,” he said, arguing that officials should simply establish where the lowest price can be found.
Behind these policy arguments, Dexter said, lies a bigger critique. He accused South Africa’s prevailing economic model of failing to address poverty, unemployment and land redistribution. “We think that has failed,” he said of the capitalist system.
Housing is another front. Dexter criticised Cape Town’s delivery of social and affordable housing, saying the city had “failed completely” in that area. The party’s election priorities also include job creation, community safety and tackling corruption. On employment, the SACP wants to bring outsourced and expanded public works jobs in-house and open opportunities for young people.
The independent campaign has drawn scrutiny, including criticism that the SACP is complicit in corruption associated with the governing party. Dexter rejected that charge, saying the party had assessed its candidates and, to the best of his knowledge, none had been involved in corruption or the plundering of state resources. He did acknowledge that a candidate in the Southern Cape had been charged with certain matters, and said the party was considering the case through a disciplinary process. He added that the SACP had been critical of some ANC policies.
Accountability is the final thread of the party’s pitch. When a caller to the interview questioned whether community-led decision-making could prevent a small group from monopolising power, Dexter rejected the idea that the party wanted a dictatorship. He argued instead for democratic control at local level, saying ward committees should have the power to remove officials who fail to perform. He also pointed to New York politician Zohran Mamdani’s grassroots approach as an example of the kind of local accountability the party supports, while describing the SACP’s own vision as more radical.
The party is now asking voters to decide whether its proposals on services, jobs, housing and community control offer a compelling alternative at the ballot box.
Q&A
What does the SACP propose on service costs like water?
He said water, electricity and sanitation should be treated as human rights rather than commodities, with an unemployed grandmother in Khayelitsha not paying the same as a billionaire in Constantia; services would not be entirely free, but wealthy residents would pay more and be taxed appropriately.
Is the SACP breaking away from the Tripartite Alliance?
No, Dexter said standing independently does not make the alliance something the party no longer wants to be part of; the SACP remains inside the Tripartite Alliance with the ANC and Cosatu.
What did Dexter say about outsourcing and tenders?
He said ideology shapes how municipalities operate, criticised outsourcing to private companies as coming at residents' expense, argued services should be brought back in-house, and viewed tendering as vulnerable to corruption, suggesting officials be personally accountable for overpaying for goods.
How does the SACP answer concerns about community-led power becoming a dictatorship?
He argued for democratic control at local level, said ward committees should be able to remove officials who fail to perform, rejected the dictatorship charge, and cited Zohran Mamdani's grassroots approach as an example while calling the SACP's vision more radical.