ANC Secretary General (SG) Fikile Mbalula has delivered a stern message to councillors in the North West, urging them to prioritise tangible service delivery over “speaking big English” to communities.
This strong message by the ANC SG was delivered during a community meeting held at the Mamakato Community Hall in Rustenburg on Tuesday.
“ANC councillors have a responsibility to ensure that services are delivered to our people at all times. They should go into our communities and ensure they deliver on what they promise and not speak big English, but rather be on the ground and resolve all service delivery challenges faced by our people,” Mbalula charged.
The SG pointedly noted that councillors who are disconnected from the communities they serve cannot effectively advocate for their needs. “We cannot have leaders who are not known by their communities and are out of touch.”
One pressing issue raised by Mbalula was the allocation of RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) houses, which has been a significant concern for many residents.
[WATCH] Since we have arrived we have interacted with the community and they have shared their grievances with us. As we celebrate the 114 years of the existence of the ANC at Moruleng Stadium we must answer the questions that our communities posed to us.#ANC114 pic.twitter.com/Oxq2Y6GG2X
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) January 6, 2026
Mbalula subsequently called on the provincial leadership to take swift action to ensure that those waiting for homes receive their rightful allocations.
“Those who are on the list must be given their stands as promised by the government,” he said, vowing to reach out to the Premier and other leadership to address this urgent matter.
Furthermore, Mbalula, who has been leading various community engagements in Rustenburg, where the party’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to deliver his January 8 Statement at the Moruleng Stadium on Saturday, said the party had come to hear from the community about their challenges, and how ANC deployees were performing in their communities.
“We have come here to listen to our communities and hear whether our deployees, especially councillors, are doing the work the ANC has sent them to do and if the communities know them,” Mbalula stated.
Moreover, Mbalula reflected on the historical challenges faced by the North West province and its communities. He acknowledged the lingering effects of poverty and suffering that have plagued the area since the oppressive bantustan regime of Bophuthatswana and apartheid.
“This community has suffered. From the days when it was still under the oppressive bantustan regime of Mangope, called Bophuthatswana, and the apartheid regime. Tribalism was rife here. We now seek that black people since the dawn (of democracy) live a life of opportunity and success under the ANC government,” he stated.
Mbalula emphasised the point that the ANC has, over the past three decades, worked hard to ensure that black people live a life of opportunity and success, adding that this priority has made the ANC the beacon of hope and progress.
