Middelburg is rapidly following in the footsteps of municipalities that are falling apart.

The decline is there for all to see.

In fact, it is lurking around every corner.

Middelburg was once an ANC flagship municipality with an annual clean audit, a clean town, where street lights were on and services were delivered.

Now the town is getting dirtier, ditches dug to repair burst pipes are left like that for months, the Dennesig landfill is closed, few street lights work and the Dennesig dams where nice picnics were held are overgrown…

When a public opinion poll was recently conducted among town leaders with the question, “who and what is responsible for the decline, a lawyer had only one short, cryptic answer: “ANC!”

Next year there will be a municipal election and the first party to bring out its big shots is the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The popular Cilliers Brink, who is the Tshwane mayoral candidate, will be one of the speakers at a gathering that will only be attended by invited guests on 11 November.

On an invitation that the Middelburg Observer has seen, it says “Join the Democratic Alliance in Steve Tshwete as we present our comprehensive plan to rescue the municipality and restore quality service delivery. The DA is ready to bring honest, transparent, and effective governance that puts residents first. Together we can rebuild Steve Tshwete and ensure that basic services are delivered efficiently, and create a municipality that works for all its people.”

Other prominent DA leaders involved in the meeting are DA Mpumalanga Chairperson Bosman Grobler, an alumnus of HTS Middelburg, DA Mpumalanga provincial leader Jane Sithole and DA Steve Tshwete Constituency Chairperson Elsie Vermooten.

If the DA wants to make a dent in support next year, they will definitely have to change the perception of residents “that their current councillors only report faults and problems and do nothing further”.