The ANC has retained the dysfunctional Ditsobotla local municipality in Lichtenburg, North West, with a slight majority victory.

The ruling party won the municipality with 51,58% of the votes followed by the EFF at 15,21% and DA with 14,43%. Independent candidates got 5,19%.

In his immediate response, EFF North West provincial secretary Papiki Babuile said he hopes the residents of Ditsobotla would vote the ANC out of power in the 2026 municipal elections.  

“We welcome the results. The people of Ditsobotla have spoken. They want the ANC back. They will learn from the situation they have put themselves in currently. They should have voted the ANC out,” Babuile said.

The Ditsobotla municipality has been rocked by ANC factional battles, which led to the collapse of service delivery and saw the appointment of 12 municipal managers, two administrators and two mayors in just five years.

The instability in the administration of the municipality has led to poor service delivery with many residents of Lichtenburg where the municipality sits living without water, while there were constant power cuts and heaps of uncollected refuse on almost every corner.

The roads are in a state of disrepair, with potholes everywhere, while some roads that were once tarred have deteriorated into gravel due to  lack of maintenance.

Babuile said the low voter turnout in the municipality played a role in the ANC retaining power in the embattled Ditsobotla.

“But you should also check the lower turnout [at the polls]; it is a demonstration that people are not happy with service delivery.  

“They are not happy with what the ANC gave them in the previous term. The ANC in the previous term ruled Ditsobotla with a significant majority but this time around it is low.”

The ANC won Ditsobotla with an overwhelming 61.7% in the 2016 municipal elections.

Chairperson of the independents, Reets Thwala, said the results could lead to another major employer leaving Ditsobotla. In June, Clover, a big employer in the region, announced that it would move its cheese factory from Litchenburg to to Queensburgh in KZN.

Clover at the time cited years of “experiencing water and power outages and the surrounding infrastructure has not been maintained by the municipality”.

“People have lost confidence in this province because of the collapsing municipalities. The people should have voted for more independent candidates in order to see better service delivery,” said Thwala.