Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba’s cabinet reshuffle has come under fire from the Democratic Alliance (DA), with the party accusing her of rewarding ANC leaders at the expense of service delivery and accountability in the province.
DA Limpopo leader and Member of the Provincial Legislature Jacques Smalle said the reshuffle announced on Wednesday, September 2, was driven by internal ANC politics rather than a genuine effort to improve the performance of the provincial government.
The reshuffle saw former Mopani District Municipality executive mayor Pule Shayi appointed as MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA), while former Fetakgomo-Tubatse Local Municipality mayor Eddie Maila was appointed MEC for Health.
Both Shayi and Maila hold senior positions in the ANC, with Shayi serving as the party’s Limpopo provincial secretary and Maila as provincial treasurer.
Smalle questioned the decision to appoint Shayi to oversee municipalities despite what he described as Mopani’s poor financial and service-delivery record during his five-year tenure as mayor.
“Pule Shayi is promoted to oversee municipalities after five years in which Mopani failed to achieve a single unqualified audit. Both Mopani and Fetakgomo-Tubatse had equitable-share funding withheld by National Treasury for persistent and serious financial-management non-compliance,” said Smalle.
“The Democratic Alliance condemns Premier Phophi Ramathuba’s reshuffle of the Limpopo Executive, which is clearly designed to accommodate narrow ANC political interests rather than improve the performance of the provincial government.”
According to Smalle, Ramathuba had an opportunity to strengthen her Executive but instead chose to accommodate the political interests of the governing party.
“A Provincial Executive exists to serve the people of Limpopo, not to reward ANC leaders, and the test for any reshuffle should be simple: does it improve government, strengthen accountability and put capable people where they are needed most?” he said.
“If appointments instead follow the outcome of an ANC elective conference, then party interests have been placed ahead of the public interest.”
Smalle said holding a senior ANC position should not be considered a qualification for appointment to provincial government.
“ANC office is not a qualification for provincial office, and the question is therefore not whether Pule Shayi and Eddie Maila secured senior ANC positions. The question is what their records in government demonstrate,” he said.
He claimed that during Shayi’s five years as mayor, Mopani District Municipality received two disclaimer and three qualified audit opinions, without achieving an unqualified audit opinion during that period.
Smalle also raised concerns about persistent water-service delivery challenges in Mopani.
He referred to a 2023 South African Human Rights Commission finding which identified serious failures by water services authorities in Limpopo, including Mopani, to comply with their statutory obligations.
He further pointed to National Treasury’s decision in July 2026 to withhold R300 million from Mopani’s equitable-share allocation as part of action against municipalities accused of persistent and serious non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act and related regulations.
“At the time, Mopani was reported to have a R2.4 billion budget deficit, with roughly R300 million owed to Lepelle Northern Water and R384 million to the Department of Water and Sanitation,” said Smalle.
“Yet Shayi has now been elevated to head the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs — the very department responsible for supporting and overseeing municipalities. It is difficult to imagine a clearer contradiction, and the DA finds it unconscionable.”
Smalle said National Treasury had taken similar action against Fetakgomo-Tubatse Local Municipality, where Maila had served as mayor.
He said this raised questions about why municipal leaders whose administrations had required intervention from National Treasury were now being elevated to the provincial Executive.
“The people of Limpopo are entitled to ask why municipal leaders whose administrations required intervention by National Treasury are being promoted to the provincial Executive,” he said.
The DA leader also questioned why the leadership of the provincial departments of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure and Economic Development, Environment and Tourism remained unchanged.
“If this reshuffle was about performance, Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure and the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism should have been obvious places to start. Yet, despite persistent failures in these two departments, their political leadership remains unchanged,” said Smalle.
He accused the ANC-led provincial government of putting internal party interests ahead of the people of Limpopo.
“Limpopo does not need an Executive designed around ANC internal politics. This is the antithesis of ethical governance, which requires putting the interests of the people above narrow party-political interests,” he said.
“It needs an Executive built on competence, performance and accountability. Provincial government belongs to the people of Limpopo, not to the ANC.”