The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Velenkosini Hlabisa and the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana are expected to communicate the Cabinet decision on Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North-West on Tuesday, 09 September 2025.
Hlabisa and Godongwana will meet with the North West provincial executive council (PEC) and the Ditsobotla municipal council at the Ditsobotla Local Municipality Council Chambers.
“The decision is in response to the municipality’s persistent governance failures, financial mismanagement, and the collapse of basic service delivery.”
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the province welcomed the decision by Hlabisa to place the municipality under national government administration as per Section 139(7).
“This is the first time in democratic South Africa that the National Government has accepted its responsibility to ensure accountable and effective governance and improved service delivery in a North West Municipality.
“This decision marks the first step towards cleaning out the mafia-style criminality that has crippled Ditsobotla over the last 20 years that resulted in the collapse of service delivery and local economic decline and a sense of hopelessness, frustration, anger, and misery within the community.”
The party has promised to engage Hlabisa to ensure the immediate normalisation of service delivery, with a focus on electricity and water supply and refuse collection.
The DA MPL CJ Steyl is expected to engage Hlabisa on the implementation of lifestyle audits of all elected political office bearers and municipal management; disciplinary action to remove compromised politicians and municipal officials from office and prosecution of all individuals complicit in criminal activity.
“We will closely monitor the intervention and will work with the administrator and all stakeholders to ensure that all Ditsobotla residents receive the services they deserve.
“The DA first recommended that Ditsobotla rather be placed under Section 139(7) in September 2022 during the consultation process with the National Council of Provinces following the decision to dissolve the municipality under Section 139(1)(c). However, the municipality was subsequently dissolved, resulting in a municipal by-election in December 2022.”
