Is the ANC Using Electricity to Campaign in Bushbuckridge?

ActionSA demands that the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality explain the sudden suspension of recurring electricity interruptions in several communities after residents endured regular scheduled outages for an extended period.

While any improvement in electricity supply is welcome, residents deserve to know what has changed, what interventions were implemented, and whether these improvements are permanent.

The municipality’s own 2025/26 Integrated Development Plan acknowledges that electricity interruptions remain a persistent challenge, particularly in rural areas, and that ageing electricity infrastructure requires significant upgrades to ensure reliable supply. These admissions confirm that unreliable electricity is a long-standing service delivery failure, not a recent or isolated problem.

It is therefore reasonable for residents to question why an issue the municipality has acknowledged for years appears to have improved only months before the 2026 Local Government Elections.

If the ANC has finally found a lasting solution, it must explain why residents and businesses were forced to endure years of unreliable electricity. If no permanent solution has been implemented, then residents are justified in questioning whether the recent improvements are simply an election tactic designed to create the impression that service delivery has improved ahead of the polls.

ActionSA therefore calls on the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality to publicly explain:

• Why electricity interruption schedules have changed in affected communities;
• What technical or operational interventions made this possible;
• Whether these improvements are sustainable beyond the election period; and
• Whether residents can expect the same level of service after the Local Government Elections.

Reliable electricity is not a campaign promise, it is a constitutional obligation. As we approach the 2026 Local Government Elections, the people of Bushbuckridge deserve honest leadership, transparency and consistent service delivery, not improvements that coincide with election season. ActionSA will continue to hold the municipality accountable to ensure residents receive reliable electricity every day of the year, not only when votes are at stake.

ActionSA National Ambition: Contested its first National Election in 2024.