If the Bafana Bafana coach picked Ramaphosa as a player, everyone would know we are going to lose

President Cyril Ramaphosa used a simple football analogy on Thursday to drive home a serious point about how South Africa’s municipalities are run. Speaking at the launch of the Revised White Paper on Local Government in Boksburg, he said that appointing the wrong people to important jobs leads to failure.

“Imagine if the Bafana Bafana coach would appoint Cyril Ramaphosa to become a player in the team, everyone would know we are going to lose,” the President said. He used the example to stress that municipalities need people who are actually qualified and capable of doing the work, not just those who are politically connected.

The event took place at the Birchwood Hotel under the theme “Every Municipality Must Work: From Policy to Collective Action.” It brought together mayors, councillors, ministers and officials from all 257 municipalities. The new policy aims to fix long-standing problems with service delivery, financial mismanagement and weak governance.

Ramaphosa said only capable and accountable people should be appointed to senior municipal positions. He warned that there must be real consequences when public money is wasted, procurement is manipulated or officials fail to do their jobs. The White Paper also calls for revenue from electricity and water sales to be ring-fenced so it can be used to maintain infrastructure instead of being spent elsewhere.

Many communities continue to struggle with unreliable water, power cuts, poor roads and uncollected refuse. The President acknowledged that too many municipalities are failing the people they are meant to serve. He said the revised policy is meant to move away from appointments based on loyalty and towards appointments based on skills and experience.

The launch comes less than two weeks before the local government elections scheduled for 4 November 2026. Government says the new framework will guide how municipalities are structured, funded and staffed in the years ahead, with a focus on making sure every municipality can deliver basic services properly.

By linking the need for competent officials to the familiar example of the national soccer team, Ramaphosa made it clear that putting the wrong people in charge of local government has the same result as fielding an unskilled player: the team loses, and the community pays the price.

Source: https://x.com/SABCNews/status/2113270601355841794