MAHIKENG, North West — As political parties scramble to form a coalition in the Mahikeng hung council, residents are making improved service delivery their top priority for the new administration. The North West provincial capital has grappled with severe infrastructure and utility challenges for years, and locals are now demanding immediate, tangible action from whichever political grouping takes the helm following last week’s local government elections, which left no single party with an outright majority.
For years, Mahikeng has been plagued by deteriorating roads, alongside an unreliable water and electricity supply. In the wake of the election results, residents are calling for political compromise, expressing hope that a coalition government will foster healthy competition and pressure among parties to finally deliver on basic municipal services.
Locals expect the incoming administration to be strictly accountable and are demanding to see visible improvements within the first 100 days in office. Beyond basic infrastructure, the community is heavily focused on the socio-economic future of the area’s younger generation.
Residents emphasized that the new council must prioritize equipping the local youth with practical skills rather than relying solely on financial relief grants of R350 or R370. Community members argued that when young people possess marketable skills, they can sustain themselves and contribute to the local economy even during broader national economic downturns. Furthermore, there is an urgent plea for the creation of youth programs to combat a growing local drug crisis, which residents say has deeply affected the area.
Navigating the complex coalition talks, Freddy Sonakil, leader of the North West Democratic Alliance, confirmed that his party is negotiating strictly around a program of service delivery and municipal stability.
Sonakil noted that the party is carefully observing the challenges faced by other metropolitan municipalities, where massive coalitions of seven or more partners have previously collapsed because individual parties woke up demanding specific political positions.
“We are not looking into positions. We believe that we are still at the first layer of the engagements, and at the first layer, positions must not even be considered,” Sonakil explained.
He stressed that capability will be the driving force behind their negotiations. “We are going to undertake this on a capacity and capability basis. We’re not going to deal with issues of positions without having capacity. So we’re not going to go and fight for an MMC [Mayoral Committee] position where our candidate does not meet the criteria for a particular portfolio. That’s really our ethos in how we are approaching these negotiations,” Sonakil added.
With the clock ticking, participating political parties have under two weeks left to elect their new office bearers as the province awaits the finalization of its new local government leadership.
