“Yo, there’s a lot that’s bad in this community,” sighs Neliswa Radebe. The 19-year-old is one of 13 people living in a small ramshackle(摇摇欲坠的，破旧的) house above a motorway in Mpofana, a municipality in eastern South Africa. She lists the problems: piped water is rare; rubbish collection is sporadic(零星的，断断续续的); and there is a leak dripping on the mattress used by her bed-bound adopted mother. Outside is no better. The roads are more pothole than tarmac; a resident died recently when a car careered into them.(道路坑洼多于柏油；最近一名居民因汽车冲入坑中而丧生。) There are no playgrounds, football fields, netball courts or youth centres. Squatters have overrun Mpofana’s dilapidated(破败的，年久失修的) town hall, on the other side of the motorway.
“哟，这个社区糟糕透了，”内利丝瓦·拉德贝叹气道。这位19岁的女孩是住在南非东部姆波法纳市一座高速公路旁破旧房屋里的13人之一。她列举了种种问题：自来水罕见，垃圾收集断断续续，还有一处漏水滴在她卧床养母的床垫上。外面也好不到哪去。道路坑洼多于柏油；最近一名居民因汽车冲入坑中而丧生。这里没有游乐场、足球场、无板篮球场或青年中心。擅自占住者已经占领了高速公路另一侧姆波法纳破败的市政厅。
Mpofana is part of a bigger problem. Most of South Africa’s municipalities—the units of local government meant to deliver basic services—are a mess.(南非大多数市政当局——本应提供基本服务的地方政府单位——一团糟。) Their failure makes life worse, especially for the poor, and stymie(阻碍，妨碍)s a wider economic recovery. That is weakening the African National Congress (ANC), the once-mighty party. If the ANC receives the expected drubbing(惨败，痛击) at local elections on November 4th, it may shake up(彻底改变，震动) South African politics.
姆波法纳是一个更大问题的一部分。南非大多数市政当局——本应提供基本服务的地方政府单位——一团糟。它们的失败使生活更糟，尤其是对穷人而言，并阻碍了更广泛的经济复苏。这正在削弱非洲人国民大会（非国大），这个曾经强大的政党。如果非国大在11月4日的地方选举中如预期般惨败，可能会撼动南非政坛。
Under apartheid(种族隔离制度（南非）), local government reflected the country’s systemic(系统性的，全面的) racism. White areas were home to commercial hubs and rich suburbs; business and property taxes were spent on infrastructure that would not have been out of place in California (swimming pools that used a lot of water).(白人地区是商业中心和富裕郊区的所在地；商业税和财产税被用于基础设施，这些设施在加州也毫不逊色（包括耗水量大的游泳池）。) Black areas were marginalise(使边缘化)d, with infrastructure that looked more like that elsewhere in Africa, rather than in its industrial heart (tap water was a luxury).
在种族隔离制度下，地方政府反映了该国系统性的种族主义。白人地区是商业中心和富裕郊区的所在地；商业税和财产税被用于基础设施，这些设施在加州也毫不逊色（包括耗水量大的游泳池）。黑人地区被边缘化，其基础设施看起来更像非洲其他地方，而非其工业核心（自来水是奢侈品）。
