ANC banks on Mbalula-led war room to fix water, rural infrastructure

FIXING the country’s water supply and rural infrastructure will top the agenda for the newly-announced ANC task team and war room.

During the party's second day of the three-day lekgotla currently in Boksburg on Sunday, ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the party will set up a war room to deal with local government challenges across the board.

The party had tabled a political overview report at the lekgotla, which pointed to a lack of policy implementation as one of the party’s long-standing issues.

Mashatile described the war room as targeted intervention, aimed at stabilising municipalities and improving service delivery. It will be led by the Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, who will monitor implementation across provinces, districts, and metros.

He said this will ensure timely interventions so local problems and other related challenges are resolved quickly.

"Our focus is on fixing the local government. You will recall from the President's January 8 Statement, where the President emphasised this matter. This is the year of decisive action to fix local government and ensure a viable economy," he said.

Mashatile said poor water reticulation remains a significant challenge, leading to widespread water shortages despite ample supply in dams.

“We have realised that, in the main, it is not that we do not have water in our dams, but it is the issue of reticulation. Even in provinces where we have dams, some areas do not receive water," Mashatile stated.

The ANC promised to prioritise improving road infrastructure, particularly in rural areas that often suffer from inadequate service delivery.

“As we were criss-crossing the North West province, one of the biggest challenges was road infrastructure,” Mashatile noted.

Mashatile said that the party 'will be deploying its most capable cadres at the local government level to ensure service delivery is revitalised'.

“Our councillors must be fit for purpose, so they must be trained properly, deployed in all municipalities, and work well with managers and officials to improve local government and the quality of life of people in those areas."

President Cyril Ramaphosa,  at the weekend reinforced the necessity of focusing on local government and economic transformation, urging party members to create a clear implementation plan. He cautioned against spreading resources too thin, highlighting that prioritising these core areas would lead to an organic solution to other ancillary issues.

"Our main task for this year is to fix the local government and to fundamentally transform our economy, and all our actions must be geared towards that. Sometimes we are tempted to try to do everything, but if we can focus on these, all the other tasks and issues will fall into place. So, during this Lekgotla, we must make sure that we come up with an implementation plan. It should be a clear template so that we can ensure that we start the year much more effectively," he told ANC members.

Cape Times