Ramaphosa’s visit to Ditsobotla unlikely to bring about change, says analyst

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the troubled Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West over the weekend is unlikely to bring about fundamental change.

This is according to a political analyst at the North West University Professor André Duvenhage.

ANC Letsema campaign

Ramaphosa visited the area in his capacity as president of the African National Congress (ANC) as part of his party’s Letsema campaign on Saturday.

The ANC also used the visit to Ditsobotla to campaign for the coming by-elections scheduled for December 14.

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Ramaphosa promised residents that plans are afoot to fix the problems at various municipalities in the province.

Speaking to The Citizen on Sunday, Duvenhage said he doubts Ramaphosa’s visit and promises to residents of Lichtenburg and surrounding areas would bring about any change.

“Ramaphosa is well known for saying a lot of things with little done.

“We are currently confronted with a lot of surveys and predictions about the upcoming 2024 general elections and the support base of political parties, and with talk about the possibility of the ANC not getting an absolute majority, Ditsobotla will be among those interesting areas in the event that he [Ramaphosa] makes a difference there,” said Duvenhage.

Divided ANC

With the ANC remaining divided in the province and in Ditsobotla in particular, Duvenhage said this made things even more difficult, stressing that if the status quo remains – it will not benefit the ANC in any way.

“I expect to see a lot of political campaigning over the next few weeks leading up to the ANC’s national elective conference because there is a lot at stake for political parties and even more for the ANC.

READ: Two ‘mayors’ fight over NW municipality as services collapse, businesses close

“Everyone is seeing Ramaphosa to be in a strong position ahead of the national elective conference, but I believe the political environment can change in the ANC very quickly. And things can end up differently than many people expect… yes he is the favorite, but you can still get a combination of support with some changing their orientation,” said Duvenhage.

Ditsobotla has for the longest time been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

At some point, the embattled municipality had two different mayors running at the helm, something which shocked Ramaphosa during his visit on Saturday.

The sad state of affairs as far as service delivery is concerned, has also prompted milk and dairy company Clover SA to relocate to KwaZulu Natal citing poor service delivery in the area of Lichtenburg.

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