The North West Provincial Government led by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Oageng Molapisi and Premier Lazarus Mokgosi announced the appointment of an Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the conduct of councillors of Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality following weeks of administrative turbulence, on Friday, 05 September 2025.
The decision was communicated to the council at a council meeting on Friday.
This comes after the joint parliamentary oversight delegation, during its oversight visit to the province, indicated that Mokgosi, Molapisi and MEC for Finance, Kenetswe Mosenogi must also be held accountable for Ramotshere.
The delegation, comprising the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General, conducted oversight together with the North West Provincial Legislature.
Underperforming municipalities across the province spent had to share their challenges with the delegation.
The delegation emphasised that provincial inaction or delays in intervening only exacerbate dsyfunction in municipalities.
“The joint delegation has been critical of cases where the provincial government has failed to act despite having the legal authority to do so, and stressed that the provincial executive must now demonstrate how it will monitor and enforce compliance. This reflects a shift from blaming municipalities alone to recognising that provincial accountability is central to stabilising governance.
“As a case in point, the delegation welcomed the urgent intervention plan presented by the Premier of the North West, Mr Lazarus Mokgosi, to stabilise the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality on Tuesday. The planned intervention in Ramotshere illustrates why the provincial executive must use its constitutional powers early and decisively to address governance and service delivery failures,” said Parliamentary Communication Services in a statement.
According to the spokesperson for Premier, Sello Tatai, this culminated into the closure of Municipal offices with provision of services taking a hammering.
Molapisi said the decision forms part of government’s ongoing efforts to stabilize the Municipality.
“The committee has been given sixty days to conclude its investigations and once this process has been completed we will act on their recommendations. The state of our municipalities is worrisome and we need to do everything within the law to bring about administrative stability in our municipalities,” said Molapisi.
Addressing Labour Unions, Business and Traditional Leaders Mokgosi maintained the measures pronounced by Molapisi are aimed at giving assurance to the community about government plans to ensure the smooth running of the Municipality as well uninterrupted provision of services.
“As government we were taken aback by what transpired in this municipality a few days ago. This is one of the municipalities that have shown a steady progress in relation to administrative stability and provision of services. So we came here to restore order and assure residents that the province will not hesitate to act on anyone who goes astray and doesn’t follow the law” said Mokgosi.
Mokgosi further said the intervention by government through mandatory Financial Recovery Plans and deployment of Provincial Executive Representative is yielding desired results.
“Ramotshere Local Municipality has recently benefited from Eskom’s Debt Relief Programme to the tune of twenty nine million rand. The Municipality is also earmarked for funding by Infrastructure South Africa. This is aimed at assisting the Municipality to address various service delivery challenges confronting residents,” Mokgosi said.
Mokgosi presented a plan that includes engaging municipal workers and residents.
“The announcement follows an Intervention Plan tabled by Premier Mokgosi during a recent joint-sitting of Parliament on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Standing Committee on Auditor,” said Tatai.
Ramotshere municipality is one of 18 in the province that had appeared before the joint delegation by Tuesday evening to account for governance and other challenges. Concluding the second day of its oversight visit, the delegation issued a firm reminder to the provincial executive council to utilise its Constitutional powers to intervene decisively.
Like many other municipalities in the province, Ramotshere municipality has operated with successive unfunded budgets, is buckling under debt, especially to Eskom, and has also been experiencing service delivery protests over water shortages.
The delegation was particularly alarmed hearing that political infighting and factions vying for control in the municipality culminated in intimidation by outsiders, and a shooting incident at the municipal offices.
During engagements with municipalities, Dr Zweli Mkhize, who is leading the joint delegation, has consistently reminded the Mokgosi and Molapisi of their constitutional responsibilities to support municipalities and address persistent governance failures and maladministration.
“You have the authority given to you by the Constitution, and we expect you to use it,” he said.
He also emphasised the importance of regular progress reports to both the provincial legislature and Parliament, allowing members and the public to monitor improvements and hold leaders accountable.
