Nkhensani Chauke
Campaigning is gaining momentum in the troubled Thabazimbi Local Municipality ahead of the much-anticipated by-elections in December.
The fresh elections follow the Limpopo Department of Co-operative Governance’s decision in August to dissolve the municipal council amid a financial crisis.
For the past two years, the municipality has been operating with two parallel councils and two administrative managerial teams.
The nomination process opened on 25 October and closed on Monday this week and party supporters say residents are yearning for improved services.
The by-elections are scheduled for December 4, 2024.
Three new political parties will join the ANC, DA, EFF, Thabazimbi Residents Association and Thabazimbi Forum in contesting the by-elections.
In an interview with Inside Metros, Tokkie Swanepoel, DA councilor in the Thabazimbi Local Municipality, said that the DA welcomed the decision to hold fresh elections in December.
“The DA wants to give the community the chance to use their constitution rights to elect new councilors that will serve the community and not their pockets. This is needed to make sure that there is a thorough investigation in the whole municipality. Lifestyle and skills audit must be done. It is absolutely necessary to clean up and make sure we get professional managers and councilors that only serve the community,” said Swanepoel.
Swanepoel said the municipality was dissolved because it was dysfunctional, and the community was not getting good service delivery due to groups of employees who were not working to full capacity.
Swanepoel said ANC councilors continually failed to attend executive committee and council meetings where crucial decisions need to be taken, directly causing the conditions the Premier is using to justify placing the municipality under administration.
“The illegal council of 21 October 2022 was the beginning of all the problems. Since February 2022 there was issues with ANC councilors didn’t attend the portfolio meetings,” Swanepoel told Inside Metros during the interview.
“This was reported to the MEC who didn’t respond to my reports and reports of the speaker. SAMWU [South African Municipal Workers’ Union] was constantly on a go-slow and not working. They got into politics. ANC does not want to work under the leadership of the DA and the administration was manipulated by municipal manager that was illegally appointed.”
Ndavhe Ramakuela, spokesperson of the Provincial Government, said the decision to dissolve the Thabazimbi Local Municipality council was a correct one.
“The Decision was to dissolve the Thabazimbi council and appoint an administrator to run the municipality until a new Council and administration have been reconstituted. It will benefit the municipality by bringing stability, control and accountability that will lead to better service provision,” said Ramakuela.
“Thabazimbi has not yet filed for bankruptcy, hence the commitment to fulfil all obligations towards the creditors that the municipality owes. The root cause has been identified as poor management; it is for this reason that a forensic investigation will be carried out to cure the problem and avoiding such from happening in the future. There will be consequence management process applied.”
Sipho Dikgale, Provincial Deputy Secretary of SANCO Limpopo, said the municipality was dissolved because it failed to provide good and quality services to the residents of Thabazimbi while they paid for services.
“Decisions [in that municipality[ were taken without the interests of residents,” said Dikgale.
“Governance and management challenges led to the dissolution of the municipality; there was a dysfunctional council, municipality was unable to pay creditors such as Eskom and Magalies Water, and there was a high vacancy rate in senior management of the municipality while it operated on an unfunded budget. The municipality has failed to achieve the objectives set out in section 152 of the Constitution. The council had two parallel structured fighting among themselves.
The interests of local people should be of high priority before the interests of politicians.”
The municipality faces allegations of fraud and corruption, leading to prolonged court litigation that has hindered its ability to function and provide essential services.
Reports suggest that the municipality has spent over R13 million on legal fees during nearly two years of political battles—funds intended for basic services like water, sanitation, roads, and community lighting.
At one point, some municipal workers were unable to receive their monthly salaries.
According to the parliamentary Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration, the municipality owes Eskom R304 million and Magalies Water R198 million.
INSIDE METROS