Limpopo ANCYL demands blue lights while backing financial failure promotions | News24

The ANCYL in Limpopo has celebrated and condemned Premier Phophi Ramathuba’s executive reshuffle, raising questions about whether the organisation prioritises service delivery or demands positions regardless of performance.

• Pule Shayi recorded two disclaimed and three qualified audits during five years as the mayor of Mopani in Limpopo.
• National Treasury withheld R300 million from Mopani in July for persistent and serious financial management non-compliance.
• The Fetakgomo-Tubatse Municipality also faced Treasury intervention under Eddie Maila before he became Limpopo’s health MEC.
• For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

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The ANCYL in Limpopo has celebrated and condemned Premier Phophi Ramathuba’s executive reshuffle, raising questions about whether the organisation prioritises service delivery or demands positions regardless of performance.

In a statement on Friday, the ANCYL expressed disappointment at the exclusion of its provincial chairperson, Faith Sebopela, from the provincial cabinet.

It characterised her omission as “a failure by the government to adequately recognise and integrate the role and aspirations of young people”.

Yet the ANCYL welcomed the appointments of Pule Shayi and Eddie Maila – two former municipal mayors whose municipalities faced National Treasury intervention for financial non-compliance.

Shayi has been elevated to head the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, which oversees municipalities.

READ | ANC’s revolving door: Officials move from mayoral chains to executive power in Limpopo

During his five-year tenure as the Mopani District Municipality’s mayor, the municipality recorded two disclaimed audit opinions and three qualified opinions.

Mopani did not achieve a clean audit under Shayi’s watch.

In July 2026, Treasury withheld R300 million of Mopani’s equitable share allocation due to “persistent and serious non-compliance” with the Municipal Finance Management Act.

The municipality had a R2.4 billion budget deficit and owed R300 million to Lepelle Northern Water and R384 million to the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Its finances were plagued by unauthorised, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure, as well as unfinished Regional Bulk and Water Services Infrastructure Grant projects dating back to 2009.

Water debt of R200 million compounded the problem.

This led former premier Stan Mathabatha to place Mopani under administration due to poor financial performance in 2023.

The municipality challenged the decision in court.

At the time, it was Shayi’s predecessor, Basikopo Makamu, now the MEC for agriculture and rural development, who advocated for provincial intervention.

The DA condemned the municipality’s court challenge and urged it to focus on implementing the Auditor-General’s action plan and ensuring uninterrupted water delivery.

Maila’s record at the Fetakgomo-Tubatse Local Municipality follows a similar pattern.

In July 2026, Treasury withheld equitable share transfers for the municipality’s failure to address unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Maila has been appointed as MEC for health.

In 2018, Mathabatha placed Fetakgomo-Tubatse under administration following the VBS scandal in which the municipality invested millions in the defunct bank.

Maila was not leading the municipality at the time.

Shayi and Maila secured senior positions in the ANC Sekhukhune region.

READ | ANC axes over 350 councillor candidates in 11th-hour vetting purge

The ANCYL described them as “tried and tested products of the mighty Sekhukhune region” worthy of provincial office.

DA provincial leader Jacques Smalle condemned the reshuffle as “clearly driven by ANC internal politics, not by a need to improve the performance of the provincial government”.

He described Shayi’s appointment to oversee municipalities as “unconscionable” given his track record.

“ANC office is not a qualification for provincial office,” Smalle said.

The ANCYL claimed to advocate for “meaningful youth representation in structures of governance”, yet its definition of representation seemed unrelated to capability, experience, or track record.

The statement centres on demographic representation and party loyalty.

Sebopela has no track record of service delivery failure because she has never held an executive office.

The ANCYL has lobbied for her appointment, with supporters arguing she is qualified, experienced and capable.

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The ANCYL in Limpopo has a history of demands that prioritise positions over performance.

In April 2026, it demanded that Sebopela be provided with blue lights – official protection and police escort vehicles reserved for government officials – despite holding no government position.

The ANCYL also demanded that the top five members of its provincial executive committee be appointed as district mayors.

The DA said the reshuffle exposed a flaw in cadre deployment: when party positions became the qualification for public office, performance became secondary.

The party said:

Limpopo residents have endured water service failures, financial mismanagement, and the collapse of municipal functions under leaders such as Shayi and Maila.

They deserved an executive built on capability, not one assembled to satisfy ANC elective conferences, the DA said.

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