It’s a sunny December afternoon and the sound of wheelbarrows being pushed on gravel roads fills the air. Young and old are rushing to two communal taps in Boikhutso outside Lichtenburg.
This is Ditsobotla local municipality, known for having had two mayors, two speakers and two municipal managers from warring ANC factions for most of 2022. It is also the place dairy giant Clover fled for Durban in 2021 because of “ongoing poor service delivery”.
Now, the North West municipality has neither a mayor nor a speaker.
A council meeting on Wednesday to elect them descended into chaos and the sitting could not continue. The council, dissolved in September by the provincial government and placed under administration, is now hung.
In by-elections in mid-December, for which the ANC trotted out President Cyril Ramaphosa to campaign, the party’s support declined to 39.8%, the first time it had dropped below 50%.
Only 42% of Distobotla’s registered voters showed up. Of the council’s 39 seats, the ANC obtained 16, the EFF 10, and the DA six.
Despite the race for water in Boikhutso, the ANC won the ward.
To get water from the communal tap, residents must queue in the mud. They park their wheelbarrows 100m away or else they will get stuck in the quagmire. Tebogo Motswamme, 28, does this daily with her four-month-old baby on her back.
“I make two trips in a day, one in the morning and the other one in the afternoon,” she said.
I’m tired of being lied to by politicians. When they want our votes they come to us and ask for support, but once they get into office they forget about us
— Emma Segabatle
Motswamme said she voted for the ANC because it was doing a lot for her.
“Right now I’m not working and rely on child-support grants to get by. I have three children. If it was not for the ANC, I would not be getting the social grants,” she said.
She said she hoped the new ward councillor would ensure residents get water and that the roads are repaired.
Nearby, Piet Sisibo, 45, wears an ANC T-shirt bearing Ramaphosa’s face. He says he will go to his grave voting for the ANC because it is the only party with the interests of poor black people at heart.
“The ANC is not a problem. The problem is ANC leaders who are elected and serve their interests and are not serving the people,” he said, standing next to a heap of uncollected refuse.
“Right now I have an RDP house because of the ANC, my children receive grants and I know, given a chance, the ANC will still do more,” he said.
In the centre of Lichtenburg, the rubbish-strewn roads are more pothole than tarmac. Street signs have fallen and the grass grows tall.
Emma Segabatle, 29, says she didn’t bother to vote.
“I’m tired of being lied to by politicians. When they want our votes they are able to come to us and ask for support, but once they get into office they forget about us. We don’t even see them. So I don’t see the need to vote. I see it as a waste of time,” she said.
Sandra Louw, who lives in the suburb of Burgersdorp, said she had hoped things would change after Ramaphosa’s visit.
“There is no change at all. We still don’t have water, and refuse has not been collected for three weeks now. The last time they collected it was the weekend when Ramaphosa was in town,” she said.
“We get water in the morning and evenings. During the day there is no water so JoJo tanks are a necessity and most households have them now. What frustrates me is that it’s not like there is no water in reservoirs or dams. We don’t have a water shortage, the problem is that there is poor management.”
Meanwhile, former Clover workers who could not move to KwaZulu-Natal with the company, said their lives were falling apart.
Gosiame Motlhamme, who had to remain to care for her sick mother, has not found another job.
“There are very few opportunities here. Municipal jobs are reserved for comrades and their friends and families. If you don’t know anyone, then you must forget it. I’ve been applying at retail stores, but I have not heard back,” she said.
Relatives of other employees said their loved ones were severely stressed. The wife of one, who asked not to be named, said her husband was sunk in depression and she was not sure how to help him.
“He wakes up every morning and goes to town to gamble. I think this has reached a crisis level because he doesn’t even look for a job any more.”
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