The decision by the National Treasury (NT) to withhold grants and funding from several municipalities in Limpopo, including the Fetakgomo Tubatse, Musina, Thabazimbi and Modimolle-Mookgopong Local Municipalities as well as the Mopani District Municipality, comes as no surprise.
This step was warranted by years of ANC maladministration, the large-scale squandering of public funds and an utter lack of financial discipline.
The Auditor-General (AG) found and indicated in several of its reports that the province’s municipalities are characterised by corruption and irregular expenditure.
Municipalities have repeatedly failed to spend money responsibly, to fill vacant critical positions, or to complete essential infrastructure projects.
The Treasury was forced to intervene because these municipalities demonstrated that they cannot be trusted with taxpayers’ money.
In the Freedom Front Plus’s view, the NT’s decision is not unfair punishment, but a necessary and logical response to the ANC’s failures. It confirms the harsh reality that those municipalities have collapsed.
Withholding funding should, however, not merely punish innocent residents. Measures to stringently and directly monitor municipal finances should be implemented at once, while the corrupt or incompetent officials and political leaders responsible for the crisis should be held personally and financially liable for the damage.
The NT’s withholding of funds does not address the root of the problem.
The only permanent solution for Limpopo residents is a complete political overhaul and a new administration.
The ANC’s system of cadre deployment and corruption has to be replaced with a culture of clean administration, transparency and merit-based appointments.
The Freedom Front Plus calls on Limpopo residents to choose the only true and permanent solution on 4 November 2026 by ousting the ANC at the polls and voting for the Freedom Front Plus, so that the integrity of service delivery and financial accountability can be restored.
