Former Scopa chairperson Themba Godi will vote in Bushbuckridge on November 4, calling for the ANC to lose control of municipal finances after decades in power.
The African People’s Convention president proposes ward-based budgeting to ensure communities receive dedicated development allocations, drawing on his years scrutinising public expenditure in Parliament.
Godi’s return to Bushbuckridge also revives memories of the historic demarcation struggle that brought Nelson Mandela to the region before its eventual incorporation into Mpumalanga.
A return to Bushbuckridge and a challenge to the ANC
For years, Themba Godi occupied one of Parliament’s most powerful financial watchdog positions, interrogating government departments about the billions they spent and the public money they could not account for.
Now, the former chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) wants to take his battle over public spending back to the communities where government failures are felt most acutely.
On Wednesday, Godi is expected to vote at Dwarsloop Civic Centre in Ward 8 of Bushbuckridge, returning to the municipality where his political journey began.
The African People’s Convention (APC) president is calling for the ANC to be removed from municipal power, arguing that the party responsible for deteriorating services cannot be trusted to repair them.
Ward-based budgeting at the centre of Godi’s campaign
“Those who created this mess cannot solve it. The ANC does not deserve another chance,” Godi told Sunday World.
His proposed remedy is a ward-based budgeting system that would give every municipal ward a defined allocation for its development priorities.
“We must be true to the people and ensure that municipal resources go to them,” he said.
“That is why we are advocating for a ward-based budgeting system to ensure that every ward has a budget for its own development.”
For a politician who spent more than a decade examining government expenditure in Parliament, the election presents an opportunity to apply that experience to the financial decisions made closest to ordinary households.
From classroom to Parliament’s financial watchdog
Born in Matsavana village in Bushbuckridge, Godi’s political consciousness developed during apartheid.
He joined the Pan Africanist Congress as a teenager, inspired by the Africanist philosophies of Robert Sobukwe and other liberation figures.
Before entering national politics, he worked as a teacher in Bushbuckridge, teaching subjects including history, English, mathematics and physical science.
His political career took him through local government and the PAC’s leadership structures before he entered the National Assembly in 2004.
The demarcation struggle that shaped a career
Godi was among the political activists who brought Bushbuckridge to a standstill during the 1997 demarcation protests, barricading the R40 and demanding incorporation into Mpumalanga.
Then-president Nelson Mandela and the ANC leadership initially rejected the demand.
But the struggle continued until Bushbuckridge was formally transferred from Limpopo to Mpumalanga on March 1, 2006.
By then, Godi had already entered the National Assembly in 2004 and, intriguingly, been appointed chairperson of Parliament’s powerful watchdog, Scopa, in 2005.
Whether that appointment was political appeasement remains speculation, but the timing offers an irresistible historical irony.
The position made him a prominent figure in parliamentary oversight.
Unlike many politicians whose careers revolve around campaigning, Godi became closely associated with financial scrutiny, audit findings and demands for accountability.
His political journey nevertheless included a major rupture.
Building an alternative through the APC
In September 2007, he broke away from the PAC following internal disagreements and established the African People’s Convention.
He retained his parliamentary seat and continued chairing Scopa.
His tenure eventually ended when the APC lost its representation in the National Assembly following the 2019 general elections.
But his departure from Parliament did not end his political ambitions.
He has continued leading the APC, seeking to establish the party as an alternative to the ANC and other established political formations.
Taking the budget back to the wards
Godi’s latest proposal attempts to connect his parliamentary experience with the daily frustrations of municipal residents.
Under the system he advocates, every ward would receive a budget allocation for its own development.
Questions over how the system would work
The proposal is intended to prevent municipal resources from being concentrated in selected communities while others struggle with deteriorating infrastructure and inadequate services.
It also raises important questions about how such allocations would be determined, whether poorer wards would receive greater support and how spending would be monitored.
Existing municipal budgets must comply with legislation governing public finance, council approvals and service delivery responsibilities.
The APC would therefore need to explain how its proposed system would operate within those requirements.
For Godi, however, the underlying principle is straightforward.
Municipal money should produce visible improvements in the communities from which government derives its mandate.
Water, debt and service delivery pressures
His criticism comes as Bushbuckridge remains firmly under ANC control.
In the 2021 municipal elections, the governing party secured 53 of the municipality’s 76 council seats, retaining a commanding majority.
Opposition parties have struggled to dislodge the ANC despite persistent concerns about infrastructure and municipal services.
In December 2024, Godi questioned the sincerity of government promises to address Bushbuckridge’s water shortages, accusing the authorities of responding only after communities protested.
His criticism followed undertakings by Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister David Mahlobo to address longstanding water problems in areas including Violet Bank and Shatale.
READ MORE: Godi questions Mahlobo’s sincerity on Bushbuckridge water
The financial pressures facing the municipality have also attracted scrutiny.
In April 2025, Sunday World reported that Bushbuckridge was owed more than R3.1-billion in unpaid service charges and property taxes, including nearly R1-billion owed by government departments.
The municipality warned that unpaid revenue was undermining its ability to fund services and infrastructure.
READ MORE: Municipality’s R3bn debt hits businesses, residents hard
In August, Godi used an APC gathering in Bushbuckridge to announce mayoral candidates for Bushbuckridge, Thembisile Hani and Dr JS Moroka municipalities.
He also warned that politicians responsible for municipal failures should not be rewarded with another term.
The former watchdog returns home
Godi’s political history gives Wednesday’s election an unusual significance.
He once questioned national departments about the management of public money.
Now he wants residents to question whether the politicians controlling their municipalities deserve continued access to those resources.
His APC faces a formidable electoral challenge against an ANC organisation with longstanding support across Bushbuckridge.
And unlike his years in Parliament, when he could summon accounting officers to explain their decisions, Godi must now persuade voters to act on his warnings.
The difference is fundamental.
Parliamentary committees can demand explanations and recommend corrective action.
Voters can remove councillors and change the balance of power.
For the former Scopa chairperson, that is the political opportunity presented by Wednesday’s election.
After years of following the money through parliamentary reports, Godi wants communities to decide where it goes.
And he believes the ANC should no longer be trusted to hold the purse strings.
RELATED: ANC election promise: Tougher municipal oversight, if voters trust them again
- Former Scopa chairperson Themba Godi will vote in Bushbuckridge on November 4 and seeks to remove ANC control of municipal finances through ward-based budgeting.
- Godi proposes a system where each municipal ward receives a dedicated budget allocation to ensure visible development in communities.
- He began his political career in Bushbuckridge, participated in the 1997 demarcation protests, and was appointed chairperson of Scopa in 2005.
- Godi founded the African People's Convention in 2007 after breaking away from the Pan Africanist Congress and lost his National Assembly seat in the 2019 elections.
- Bushbuckridge remains under ANC control with 53 of 76 council seats as of the 2021 election, amid ongoing service delivery challenges and over R3.1-billion in unpaid municipal debts.
