South Africa's President Ramaphosa Tells New Councillors to Put Service Delivery First and Cooperate Across Parties to Form Councils
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly message to the nation on Monday, November 9, following the 2026 local government elections, urged newly elected councillors to prioritise service delivery, cooperate across political divides and restore public confidence in local government. The Electoral Commission (IEC) had declared the final results on Sunday, November 8.
Ramaphosa said those elected to councils now need to prove themselves worthy of the trust placed in them by the South African people, and that local government must be made an engine room of service delivery, a driver of development and a creator of opportunity. He called on parties to cooperate in good faith in electing office-bearers so that councils can be formed and begin their work, and asked councillors to find common ground from the start, whatever their political differences.
Under the revised White Paper on Local Government, councillors are also to reshape local government by improving municipal financial management, directing more funding to infrastructure maintenance and ensuring services reach residents reliably; voters' everyday demands include jobs and economic opportunity, reliable and affordable water and electricity, well-maintained public spaces and safer communities. More than 15 million South Africans voted, with over 540 parties and nearly 137,000 candidates contesting council seats; Ramaphosa congratulated the IEC on a professional election and thanked the police and defence force for keeping voting safe. (Source: South African Government News Agency)
Source: South African Government News Agency (SAnews
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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