Parliament, Saturday, 28 February 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) on Friday set out a roadmap on how it intends to deal with concerns about service delivery challenges raised in petitions by residents of certain municipalities in Limpopo.
Member of the National Assembly, Ms Desiree van der Walt, presented a petition on behalf of the 15 000 residents of the Bela-Bela, Modimolle-Mookgophong and Thabazimbi local municipalities. They are calling on the National Assembly to investigate the lack of service delivery in their communities.
The committee also heard from Mr Roger Ferguson of the community-based organisation Let’s Change Ba-Phalaborwa regarding the petition requesting national intervention in the governance of the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality and the Mopani District Municipality due to ongoing failures in service delivery. The Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, the Mopani District Municipality, Lepelle Northern Water and the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in Limpopo also briefed the committee on plans in place to address service delivery concerns.
The petition presented by Ms van der Walt on behalf of over 15 000 residents from municipalities in the Waterberg District outlined persistent service delivery concerns that date back several years. Among them featured water and electricity disruptions, sewage spillages and public safety concerns due to broken streetlights. The committee was asked to undertake an oversight visit to affected areas to assess conditions first-hand and to ensure structured remedial action.
The committee also heard a petition relating to the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality and the Mopani District Municipality, presented by Mr Roger Ferguson on behalf of Let’s Change Ba-Phalaborwa. The petition highlights that the recent floods exposed existing institutional weaknesses and infrastructure problems, as the floods extended existing water and electricity outages and collapsed sanitation and road infrastructure in many areas. The committee was also asked to consider an S139 intervention and structured financial and project management oversight of the disaster reconstruction efforts. Section 139 of the Constitution allows for the provincial executive to intervene in a municipality when it “cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation”.
The committee reaffirmed that access to water, sanitation, electricity and other basic services is a constitutional obligation of municipalities. It also acknowledged that continued failure to deliver these services requires decisive and coordinated remedial action.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Zweli Mkhize, noted the importance of petitions. “For us, petitions are not a tick-box exercise. They are a direct constitutional mechanism through which communities approach Parliament when local and other mechanisms have not resolved their concerns. We take them seriously,” said Dr Mkhize.
The Chairperson also reminded the meeting of the recent joint oversight visit to disaster-affected areas in Limpopo, during which members observed first-hand the devastation caused by the floods. The Chairperson said the petitions raise broader concerns about governance, the maintenance of public infrastructure and municipal resilience.
The Chairperson outlined the way forward and requested petitioners to submit, within 10 days, a structured, location-specific list of all the service delivery challenges. They must identify each affected area, the nature of the complaint and the responsible municipality. “Specificity is key. This will enable each municipality to respond directly and comprehensively to each item,” he said.
Municipalities will then be afforded two weeks to provide written responses, which the relevant provincial department must verify before the matter returns to the committee. The committee expects to reconvene within approximately one month to assess aligned reports and determine the appropriate next steps.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, DR ZWELI MKHIZE.
For media inquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Media Officer:
Name: Alicestine October
Cell: 083 665 4345
E-mail: aoctober@parliament.gov.za
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