Note to Editors: Please find English and Afrikaans soundbites by Nicholas Gotsell MP here, and here
Whilst ANC leaders and their bodyguards roamed the streets of the only working Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa, taking cheap shots at the only party in South Africa with a record of good governance, residents in the sinking Merafong City Local Municipality are scrambling to save their belongings before it is swallowed by sinkholes.
Last week, ANC leadership, accompanied by their bodyguards and blue light brigades, extended their summer holidays in the Mother City under the auspices of celebrating their 113th birthday in a true showing of just how out of touch they are with the electorate.
ANC leaders’ Cape Town jaunt took place at the same time that more sinkholes appeared in Khutsong, Carletonville and in the wider Gauteng. Eight Khutsong families were displaced, and two houses were destroyed. Residents of the sinking ANC-run Merafong Municipality live in fear and have become accustomed to the reactive nature of its government. Instead of proactively focussing on fixing water leaks and investing in infrastructure to prevent sinkholes from forming, it squanders money until the next sinkhole forces them to displace families by placing them in RDP-houses – thereby continuing to displace other families who have been on housing waiting lists for years.
Merafong, including Khutsong, is situated on dolomitic land — a legacy of historical mining activities — that makes it highly susceptible to sinkholes. Frequent leaks from burst water and sewerage pipes, paired with prolonged maintenance neglect by the ANC-governed municipality, have worsened the situation.
During an oversight visit by the Select Committee on Public Petitions and Executive Undertakings in November 2024, the committee came face-to-face with severe sinkhole damage swallowing schools, roads, and people’s homes due to years of neglect by the municipality and inaction from the Gauteng Provincial Government. The oversight was prompted by a petition from community activist Mr. Jeremiah Ramokgoatedi and saw the ANC’s reactive nature in full swing when Members of the Select Committee were met by singing and dancing members of the ANC’s Women’s League at one of the official stops.
However, for Khutsong residents, there is nothing to sing or dance about. In January 2024, R2.5 million was paid to a service provider for sinkhole rehabilitation at Hlanganani Primary School. Yet, the oversight visit showed no visible progress on the project, raising concerns about fund allocation and accountability. Moreover, financial reports reveal that the entirety of the R5 million disaster fund allocated to address sinkholes has been depleted, with many sinkholes, including those near Hlanganani Primary, left unresolved. This disconnect between expenditure and actual work on the ground highlights significant accountability issues and begs the question why ANC bigwigs are punching above their weight in well-run Cape Town, whilst the people of Merafong wait for the next stopgap move by its local leadership.
Following the oversight visit, the Select Committee adopted a report which, inter alia, requested a report from the Department of Cooperative Governance detailing the measures put in place to ensure progressive engagement with the Gauteng Provincial Government and to address interventions by the municipality on ageing infrastructure. The report also requires the Department to report back to the Committee on the progress herein.
The DA will write to the Chairperson of the Select Committee to request that an urgent meeting be scheduled to consider the progress reports as soon as the Parliamentary term has started and to summons the relevant Departments, the Provincial Government and the Mayor to Parliament to account for their progress. During these engagements the DA will ask hard questions; something the voters in Merafong too should be doing a year before the Local Government Elections.