Municipal tipper trucks continued to collect rubbish and clear gravel roads this week at Ditsobotla Local Municipality. Photo Supplied.
Lichtenburg, Coligny and surrounding areas are a hive of activity as political parties try to please residents and win seats at the dissolved Ditsobotla Local Municipality, where years of corruption and mismanagement have brought the North West council to its knees.
The broken municipality is up for grabs, with all its council seats being contested in the 14 December massive by-elections.
Ditsobotla falls under Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, and was until recently led by the African National Congress (ANC). Local party leaders have come under pressure as opposition parties vow to take over, all promising to turn around the ailing council.
ANC infighting and factionalism saw the municipality having two parallel councils – each with its own mayor, speaker and chief whip.
At the receiving end were residents who were left out as delivery of services ground to a halt. This even led to milk and cheese manufacturer Clover relocating its Lichtenburg factory to KwaZulu-Natal.
On Tuesday, Democratic Party (DA) federal chairperson Helen Zille joined her party’s campaign trail in Coligny, while Forum for Service Delivery (F4SD) leader Mbhare Kekana rallied for support in Lichtenburg, where the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were also canvassing residents for votes.
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Party leader Julius Malema will on Sunday hold a campaign rally at Boikhutso in Coligny.
Zille’s campaign in Ward 15, Coligny, was meant to solidify its support in the township. DA won the ward in last year’s local polls.
The governing party roped in its President Cyril Ramaphosa two weeks ago as part of the Letsema campaign. He promised better services, urging the public to vote for his party.
On the day, gravel roads were cleared and garbage collected by the time Ramaphosa arrived.
The cleanup to impress voters continued this week. The municipality sent out tipper trucks and excavators to clear heaps of rubbish across townships and informal settlements as residents watched on.
On Friday, DA leader John Steenhuisen descended on Lichtenburg.
Pictures on social media platforms showed him and fellow members patching potholes in the town.
The EFF took its clean-up work to Phola informal settlement. Red-coloured trucks were seen collecting garbage and rubble in the area.
Candidates are vying for a slice of the 39 seats, made up of 20 ward seats and 19 Proportional Representation (PR) seats.
Apart from the top three political parties, an ANC breakaway party called Save Ditsobotla Movement has also launched its campaign, promising to do better than its former political party.
Other parties including Forum for Service Delivery (F4SD), Patriotic Alliance (PA), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Pan Africanis Congress (PAC) and the FF Plus are also out to try to win over voters.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), 14 political parties and one independent candidate will be running next week.
“Voting stations in the affected wards will be open from 7am to 9pm on Wednesday, 14 December 2022, to allow all registered voters to cast their ballots.
“Voters must present themselves at their correct voting station with their identity document – either a green barcoded ID book, a smartcard ID, or a valid temporary ID certificate – in order to cast their votes,” the organisation said in a statement.
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