Ramaphosa to face tough questions in NCOP over unemployment, municipal failures

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to respond to questions for oral reply in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Wednesday afternoon, on South Africa’s high unemployment rate, youth joblessness, and collapsing service delivery in municipalities.

Ramaphosa returns to Parliament after missing last week’s scheduled appearance due to his attendance at the G7 Summit in Canada.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the questions presented to the president span a wide range of issues, including the Government of National Unity’s stance on Black Economic Empowerment, a proposed social compact to rebuild the economy, youth unemployment, and weaknesses in budgetary management and service delivery at the municipal level.

“The president’s engagement with the NCOP gives effect to accountability by the executive arm of the state to the legislature and to the principles of cooperative governance between provinces and the national sphere,” Magwenya said.

The engagement is scheduled for 2pm at the Bouwmeester Dome in Cape Town.

Among the questions Ramaphosa will face is one from Nicholaas Hendricks Pienaar of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo. 

Pienaar is expected to ask whether, following Ramaphosa’s recent visit to the United States, he now concedes that to attract more international investment, the Government of National Unity (GNU) must revise Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policies to make them more effective and inclusive in stimulating economic growth and job creation.

This comes after Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi, who last month proposed a policy direction to guide the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on the application of BBBEE principles in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector,  including licensing requirements for satellite providers such as Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Mandisa Makesini of the Economic Freedom Fighters in the Free State will ask whether, in light of the 2024 Auditor-General’s local government audit report, which revealed widespread financial mismanagement and service delivery failures, the president and Cabinet are considering reducing the number of municipalities or merging those deemed unsustainable.

Makesini is also expected to ask whether the government would consider establishing a commission of inquiry to manage such processes instead of relying solely on a departmental approach.

Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke recently revealed that only 41 municipalities received clean audits in 2023 and 2024, while 40 regressed compared to the previous term. 

Most of the municipalities received unqualified audit opinions with findings, indicating credible financial statements but poor performance reporting and compliance.

Maluleke said that 219 municipalities spent R1.47 billion on consultants, yet many still submitted flawed financial statements, a long-standing issue that she said has shown little improvement over the past decade.

Meanwhile, Seeng Mmabatho Mokoena of the MK Party in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to ask Ramaphosa about his administration’s failure to deliver tangible results in addressing youth unemployment. 

Mokena will also question whether the youth of South Africa still trust Ramaphosa’s leadership.

South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025, up from 31.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Statistics South Africa. 

The figures showed that job losses were concentrated in the formal sector, particularly in trade and construction, although there were net job gains in transport and finance.

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

IOL Politics