ANC lekgotla: NEC leaders could be deployed to stabilise municipalities

The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) will discuss interventions to save some of the country’s unstable municipalities.

In a press briefing on Monday, the ANC’s acting spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi said the party noted that problems at the local government level were a contributing factor to its poor performance at the national elections.

“What the lekgotla will then do is that it will discuss specifically what are key interventions that are then required to stabilise local government beyond the leadership issue,” he said.

ANC intervention in municipalities

Godlimpi said the ANC had initiated a special task team, led by former Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau, to look into the problems in municipalities.

“You go campaign to people, they tell you we have sanitation problems, we have water problems, which are the stuff local government deals with. It means South Africans are no longer interested in the distinctions between the different spheres of government,” he said.

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Godlimpi described the political situation in the City of Johannesburg as unsustainable. He said the NEC had received a report from the special task team on municipalities about the state of affairs in Johannesburg.

The City of Johannesburg has had at least five mayors since the local government elections in 2021.

“As things are standing, the situation is unsustainable. Something has to give,” he said.

Godlimpi said NEC leaders could be deployed to struggling municipalities to try bring stability.

“There will be instances where an NEC member is deployed, there will be instances where a regional or provincial leader is deployed. There is no one-size-fits-all approach,” he said.

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More changes are expected in the City of Johannesburg following an agreement between Action SA and the ANC, which could result in Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda vacating his position.

Gwamanda, an Al-Jama-ah councillor, benefited from an ANC-EFF coalition which placed a candidate from a minority party in the mayoral position.

The ANC-EFF coalition has now crumbled, leading to uncertainty and more political horse trading.