Local residents who are fed-up with poor service delivery can take heart from the fact that this phenomenon is not restricted to Louis Trichardt but is a national problem which will have far-reaching consequences for the government at all levels in times to come.

Another potential source of comfort is the fact that more and more towns are declaring disputes with the municipalities in charge and assuming responsibility for service delivery themselves. The National Taxpayers Union has issued the following media release:

“The collapse in the supply of services of the local governments of many rural towns in South Africa has led to a unique phenomenon - the ratepayers of those towns have taken on their municipalities and, in some cases, are supplying the services themselves. They have cited health and safety reasons as factors that have forced them to take action.”

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is ruffling feathers in government because under-performing councils are being taken to task. The organization, which stresses that it is non-political and represents all tax-paying citizens, is dedicated to educating taxpayers about their rights. Support for the organization is growing in leaps and bounds as more and more towns join the list of irate communities demanding service delivery.

Government reaction has been unfortunate. Even though they themselves admit that they are failing in service delivery, they have chosen to attack the taxpayers. Northern Cape Premier Dipeo Peters accused the NTU of being a shadowy front for an unnamed political party, despite the fact that Peters herself has been petitioned directly by this organization to improve service delivery in Northern Cape towns.

Jaap Kelder, NTU spokesman, has strongly denied that the NTU has any political agenda.