President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the Free State provincial executive council to rectify failures at the local government level to ensure service delivery to residents.
On Friday, Ramaphosa led an engagement between the national executive and the provincial executive council.
He commended Premier Letsoha-Mathae and the provincial leadership on the outcomes-oriented State of the Province address delivered last month.
“I was particularly struck by the attention to detail given to the initiatives planned for the year ahead, particularly around youth job creation, vocational training for young people, support for the agricultural sector, township economy revitalisation and others,” said Ramaphosa.
“This is what the District Development Model we initiated in 2019 is all about – namely, the finer, granular details of not just what is being done to localise development, but also the ‘how’ and the ‘when’.”
Municipalities ‘failing’
However, the president highlighted the work still needed to get municipalities back on track.
As of 2025, 35 out of the country’s 257 municipalities were classified as distressed, while 63% were classified as ‘at risk’. The number of municipalities across the country that are now under administration continues to grow, including seven in the Free State, said Ramaphosa. Underfunding, lack of capacity, high debt levels, struggling revenue collection or generation models are just some of the challenges.
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In December last year, the auditor-general of South Africa (AG) revealed that 59 municipalities spent R2.32 billion on water tankering during the 2023-24 financial year.
Of this, R419 million was spent irregularly.
‘Weakest link’
Ramaphosa said the failures needed to be rectified.
“To put it bluntly, local government is in crisis and has become the weakest link in our government architecture. Many municipalities are practically paralysed by poor governance, financial mismanagement and corruption,” said Ramaphosa.
“When there are weaknesses or failings at local government, it isn’t just service delivery that suffers, but the trust between government and citizens becomes frayed. Timeous implementation is the yardstick by which we are measured, and also by which we will be judged.
“When local government is effective, capacitated, and professional, service delivery is improved. With effective financial management and strong, accountable leadership in local government, we are responsive to citizens’ needs and enjoy their trust.”
The president called on leaders to prioritise the restoration of local government services. This, according to Ramaphosa, will attract investment that creates jobs and boosts the economy.
“Inasmuch as we need to drill down into what the challenges, obstacles and bottlenecks are, this must be matched by solutions, and timelines for implementing them.”
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