BURGERSFORT
Limpopo Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, has urged municipalities to shift from compliance to impact, stating that the province needs CEO-type councillors, not political placeholders, as local government prepares for the 4 November 2026 elections.
Speaking at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Limpopo Provincial Members Assembly, held at Karibu Hotel in Burgersfort on Wednesday 12 August 2026, Ramathuba said the assembly’s theme: “Developing Resilient Municipalities,” must become the diagnostic focus of the 7th Administration.
“A resilient municipality is one that does not buckle when the rain falls, does not collapse when the budget tightens and does not abandon its people when the challenges mount,” she said.
The event was attended by SALGA President Cllr Bheke Stofile, SALGA Limpopo Chairperson Cllr John Mpe, and MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) Basikopo Makamu.
The Premier acknowledged progress made since 1994 in extending water, electricity and roads to previously neglected communities. But she warned that the sector was now paying for years of neglect in upkeep.
“As we moved into our third decade, we began to see signs of fatigue. We built, but we forgot to maintain. We allowed the ‘maintenance gap’ to become a service delivery crisis,” Ramathuba said.
She welcomed improved audit outcomes, noting that 18 municipalities in the province now have unqualified audits, with Capricorn and Waterberg District Municipalities achieving clean audits.
“However, I am not here to celebrate the absence of a disclaimer. An audit opinion is not service delivery. A clean book does not fill a dry tap. We are moving beyond the stage of celebrating compliance; we are now in the era of demanding impact,” Ramathuba said.
With elections three months away, Ramathuba said the era of the political councillor was ending. She called for leaders who treat council seats as executive positions.
“After 4 November, we need people who view them as CEO positions. We need mayors and councillors who understand project management, who understand asset maintenance and who understand that they are stewards of public trust,” she said.
Resilient leadership, she argued, requires the ability to read financial statements, understand infrastructure plans and interrogate municipal manager reports.
“We need emotional resilience leaders capable to withstand protests, budget cuts and climate disasters without panicking. With MPAC chairpersons now full-time, oversight bodies must correct administration failures instead of waiting for provincial intervention,” added the Premier.
Ramathuba set out four expectations for the incoming SALGA executive, a move from training to coaching with continuous mentorship instead of one-week inductions.
She also stressed for a maintenance-first approach to grant funding, including lobbying for changes to the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
Ramathuba also called for diagnoses and intervention in municipalities that have been stagnant on audit outcomes for over a decade.
She advised government leaders to defend the professionalization of administration by ensuring municipal managers are appointed for expertise, not political connections.
“We need a firewall between political interference and technical administration,” she said.
Thanking the outgoing SALGA executive, the Premier said they had held the line on financial reporting and labour stability, leaving a stronger platform.
To those seeking office, her message was direct. “The people of Limpopo are watching. They do not care about the size of the SALGA levy or the complexity of the municipal organogram. They care about whether the streetlights work and whether the water comes out of the tap,” she said.
The assembly also brought together executive mayors, speakers, chief whips, municipal managers and senior officials from across the province.