Ramathuba challenges municipalities as 2026 elections loom: “How many of us gathered here can rightfully claim that they are voices of the people?”

LIMPOPO premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, has already set sight on the 2026 local government elections, but with ambivalence about the state of municipalities in the province.

Ramathuba left delegates at the SA Local Government Association (SALGA) provincial members’ assembly this week with a pondering question of whether they still claim to be “the voices of the people”.

She was straight-forward in pointing out that municipalities, being the coalface of service delivery, have become disconnected with communities to a point that public confidence in government has dipped to a 20% approval rating.

The point she raised was that her discomfort was not only that the provincial government has to deal with recent cases of food poisoning among learners, storms that ravaged parts of the province and drought, but elections.

“It is that we have a major milestone ahead of us in less than 24 months, that we need engender communities to journey with us in building Limpopo together through democratic processes called elections…..

“The question I would want to pose today is how many of us gathered here can rightfully claim that they are voices of the people? How regular are our engagements with our communities? How regular are those ward meetings? What is the frequency of our feedback sessions?” Ramathuba said.

Municipalities in the province are still battling with long-standing issues of lack of financial controls, water and sanitation provision, electricity, roads infrastructure and sewage spills, among others.

In the 2021 local government elections, the ANC lost majority rule in two of the 27 municipalities. The two are Thabazimbi and Modimolle-Mookgophong.

The ANC now faces another test in the Thabazimbi by-elections on 4 December 2024. The by-elections come as a result of the dissolution of the council following what were arguably numerous failed attempts by the party to claw back power that led to governance instability.

It remain to be seen whether communities in Thabazimbi will again show trust to the ANC given that the issues that the party failed to address when it was in the majority in the past 30 years still exist today.

At the Salga assembly, Ramathuba also spoke of how she was left with a painful pill to swallow after the Auditor General, Tsakani Maluleke, presented to her that none of the municipality in the province received clean audit in the 2023/24 financial year.

She deplored the continuous heavy reliance by municipalities on consultants to manage finances and the mounting debt owed to Eskom and various water boards.

“Financial mismanagement is not only a matter of numbers; it affects real people and real communities. When funds are misused or wasted essential projects are delayed and communities suffer,” Ramathuba said.

She implored SALGA to increase its advisory, advocacy and supportive role to municipalities.

“Today, we are called to reflect, respond and renew our efforts to achieve sustainable, resilient municipalities that work for everyone,” she said.