QWAQWA – The South African Communist Party (SACP) has declared that it is ready to step in and rescue what it describes as a “sinking ship” – the embattled Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) Local Municipality, currently in a state it likens to being in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Speaking to The Guard on Tuesday, 3 June, SACP Deputy District Secretary Peter Khumalo said the party is already preparing for the 2026 local government elections, where it intends to contest independently despite being in alliance with the African National Congress (ANC). Khumalo, who also serves on the MAP mayoral committee, insisted that the SACP offers the leadership needed to steer the municipality out of its current crisis. He pointed to the party’s previous leadership of Metsimaholo Municipality as evidence that it can govern effectively.
“The Maluti-a-Phofung municipality is in ICU. We say this based on its massive debt, failure to collect revenue, and – most painfully – the widening gap between the municipality and the community,” Khumalo said.
