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THE STATE CANNOT FIX MUNICIPALITIES WHILE REFUSING TO PAY THEM

Provincial departments owed municipalities R14,9 billion by December 2025, placing further pressure on already fragile local government finances. This persistent non-payment undermines service delivery, violates the principles of cooperative government and forces municipalities to finance provincial operations through unpaid accounts. National Treasury should enforce accountability and establish a targeted mechanism to deduct verified municipal debts from provincial allocations.

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A DEFIANCE OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL COMPACT: THE PERIL OF XENOPHOBIC MOBILISATION

The FW de Klerk Foundation views the ongoing escalation of xenophobic violence, intimidation, and the scapegoating of foreign nationals in South Africa with profound alarm. We write this to state clearly: such acts are not merely “community grievances” – they are a direct, violent, and unacceptable affront to the foundational values of our 1996 constitutional settlement.

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THE COST OF COLLAPSE: HOW MUNICIPAL DYSFUNCTION IS DISMANTLING THE VAAL TRIANGLE’S ECONOMY

Spending two days in this municipality exposes the stark reality of its collapse. The former heartbeat of the South African economy has been reduced to a dilapidated landscape scarred by massive, neglected potholes and failing public utilities. Residents are left to navigate a complete infrastructural mess, a reality made all the more frustrating by the nearly R700 million that was spent on municipal employee overtime between 2019 and 2025, despite consistently worsening service delivery.

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FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION RELEASES DOWNLOADABLE PDF VERSION OF “WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT ANYWAY?” – THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION GUIDE 2026

The FW de Klerk Foundation and its partners have released the free downloadable PDF version of Whose Responsibility Is It Anyway? The Local Government Election Guide 2026. Written in clear and accessible language, the guide explains local government, voter registration, municipal accountability and the importance of participating in the 2026 local elections. It is the first instalment of a three-part civic-education series designed to help South Africans move from registration to informed participation and continued accountability.

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