LOCAL ELECTIONS TOUR: ‘We are moving backwards’ — Lekwa-Teemane’s collapse bleeds into residents’ daily lives
When local government fails, the fallout isn’t just measured in bad audit reports. It’s felt in dry taps, flooded yards and stalled infrastructure. Ahead of the upcoming elections, Daily Maverick visited Lekwa-Teemane, where systemic municipal decay is pushing residents towards a crossroad: will years of collapse drive voters to the polls, or deepen their disillusionment with politics?
The collapse of Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality in South Africa's North West province has far-reaching consequences for residents' daily lives. The once-thriving area now suffers from poor infrastructure, frequent service interruptions, and a lack of accountability from elected officials.
During a recent election tour, Daily Maverick visited Bloemhof and Christiana, the main towns of Lekwa-Teemane. The streets were riddled with potholes, while burst pipes leaked sewage across roads and yards. Communities in Boitumelong and Cloverdale faced near-constant water outages, electricity cuts, and unresponsive councillors.
Alutha Bles, a community activist and Ward 4 candidate for the African Congress for Transformation (ACT), expressed his concerns about the municipality's failure to improve living conditions. He lamented that "we are not stagnating; we are moving backwards" in the face of the municipality's ongoing decay.
Residents like Ketebone Lehihi, a 39-year-old Boitumelong resident, have grown disillusioned with the power of their vote due to the municipality's broken promises. In 2019, the Lekwa-Teemane municipality planned to upgrade Boitumelong's paved roads and stormwater drains, but the project has been stalled for years. As a result, Lehihi's family has been living in waterlogged conditions, with rainwater flooding their yard and even entering their home.
The unfinished road project has only added to residents' frustration. Lehihi criticized the contractors for starting and then abandoning the work, leading to further issues when it rained. Despite her family's ongoing struggles, Lehihi decided to vote for the first time in her life during the 2021 elections, as the ANC-led municipality had led Lekwa-Teemane.
As South Africa approaches the 4 November local elections, the question remains whether residents' growing frustration with Lekwa-Teemane's decay will translate into greater participation at the ballot box or deepen their disillusionment with politics.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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