He was responding to questions from members of the National Assembly on key national issues, including stabilising the supply of electricity to households and industries on Thursday 3 November 2022.

He has flagged the Bloemhof-based Lekwa-Teemane Municipality and the Welkom-based Matjhabeng Municipality as those falling to ensure that services are provided to the people and sewage spillages are dealt with.

EFF Member of Parliament (MP), Veronica Mente, asked the president about his plans to ensure that municipalities such as Lekwa-Teemane and Matjhabeng take care of "the people instead of the elite". 

"Our people drink water with animals, don't have affordable and dependable electricity and the streets are lined with raw sewage. I challenge you, Mr President, to go to Bloemhof Ward 3 in the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality in North West to see how our people open the door only to step into raw sewage. Their children are always sick.

"In fact, this is the case in all black townships and villages in this country. What’s even worse, Mr President, is that with what we are seeing in Matjhabeng, no municipality in South Africa has the capacity to maintain good infrastructure," she adds.

In his response to EFF MP Mente, President Ramaphosa says many municipalities do not register citizens who are unable to pay for services. 

"The Treasury has budgeted that the state or government will assist those who are from poor households, those who are not able to pay for water and electricity or make a meaningful contribution, but I often find that when we interact with our people, they complain about the high cost of this and that, and when you ask them are you registered on the indigent register, we find that they are not. 

"The municipality should make it their duty to see which households are paying or not paying and find out the reasons why," Ramaphosa says. 

OFM News previously reported that a number of municipalities have complained about the lack of revenue collection, blaming the high number of indigent people who are not paying for services rendered. 

ALSO READ: Free State municipal workers notified of late payments

Mangaung Metro’s acting City Manager, Tebogo Motlashuping, admitted that the municipality is riddled with decaying infrastructure.

ALSO READ: Mangaung Metro’s infrastructure decaying after neglect

On Thursday 28 October 2022, Motlashuping revealed that the decaying infrastructure, which was neglected for years, has since led to, among other things, massive sewage spillages across towns in the metro.

In June this year, the Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke raised concern over the state of municipalities across the country and said the financial position of 28% of municipalities is in a dire condition. 

OFM News