Local government elections are just around the corner - they will be held in 2026. The voter behaviour has changed. Hence, we have governments of local unity. No party is guaranteed to it will win the elections with an outright majority.
According to media reports, the ANC intends to deploy top national members to fix metros. The leading party in the GNU has suddenly realised that there is a lack of service delivery at the local government. What took it so long?
Apparently President Cyril Ramaphosa will be deployed in Tshwane. This is unprecedented. I thought the president's job was demanding and overwhelming. I was wrong.
The president has some time to spare. Yet the government is struggling to create jobs and jack up unemployment. The ANC general secretary, Fikile "Mr. Fix It" Mbalula, will assist the Joburg Metro. Other leaders, such as the first deputy secretary, Nomvula Mokonyane, and the second deputy secretary, Maropene Ramokgopa, will be deployed to other metros. Indeed, the silly season is upon us.
The objective of deploying the national leaders to the metros is because the party does not want to lose them next year - not because it's the right thing to do. So, all the party wants is power, not to accelerate service delivery.
Who is fooling whom? By deploying national figures to the metros, the party is admitting that it is failing to do what it's supposed to do at the local level. Instead of removing leaders who are failing to do what they are paid for, they are sending others to help them. Only in South Africa. Lack of service delivery is not limited to metros.
Recently, I went to fetch my daughter at the Randfontein Stadium. She's playing hockey, and they use that stadium for training. The state of that facility is bad: the grass has grown. They have only cut the grass on the pitch.
That's poor service delivery. Why is the ANC focusing on big municipalities only? Do the residents who live in small municipalities no longer matter? This suggests that it is prepared to lose small council municipalities but not metros.
This is not about service delivery but power, as indicated. Whatever happened to the Batho Pele Principles?