As the 2026 municipal elections approach, the Executive Mayor of Xhariep Distric Municipality, Irene Mehlomakulu sat down with Journal News to unpack the challenges, progress, and prior ities that shape the region’s political landscape. The mayor discussed service delivery, youth un employment, infrastructure development, and the municipality’s plans to improve transparency and community engagement.

By: Abigail Visagie

Thank you for affording us the opportunity to speak to you, Mayor. How long have you been serving the Xhariep District Municipality? I was appointed in 2021, during this executive council term, as the executive mayor of the Xhariep District Municipality. So, I have been serving my com munity for four years. It role, given that is a challenging Xhariep is the least funded district not in the Correct me like in other and across in the province—if entire country. if I’m wrong, but municipalities the country, unemployment seems to be the biggest challenge in the seventeen towns under your leadership. How are you dealing with it? You are correct. Unemployment is the biggest chal lenge in Xhariep, and it is closely linked to poverty. In addition, we face serious issues such as teenage pregnancy and substance abuse among our youth. These problems are often fueled by the lack of ac t ivities and opportunities within our communities. I believe that if we can create more activities and job opportunities, we will see a decline in substance abuse and other related challenges facing our young people. As the district municipality, what kind of support do you provide to local municipalities in dealing with unemployment, or rather, how are you ad dressing it? We are doing everything we can to secure assis tance not only from the provincial and national gov ernment but also from the private sector to help cre ate job opportunities for our youth. While I cannot share full details at this stage, I can assure you that we are working hard to open doors that will make it possible for young people to access employment op portunities. Please share with us—what are your roles and re sponsibilities as a district mayor? Our responsibility as a district municipality is to coordinate and support the three local municipalities under our jurisdiction, mainly through intergovern mental coordination. Local government elections are on the way. How prepared are you, and what are your top three pri orities? We are fully prepared for the upcoming local gov ernment elections. One of our top priorities is advo cating for female councillors, particularly in Xhariep. Out of 22 wards in the district, only two are led by women, and we want to change that narrative. We strongly believe that wards led by women tend to perform better than those led by men. How do you plan on improving the overall state of the Xhariep District? The Executive Mayor of Xhariep District Municipality, Irene Mahlomakulu. Picture: Baagedi Setlhora For the past four years, we have consistently re ceived unqualified audits as a district municipality. Our goal now is to achieve a clean audit before the next financial year ends—something we are optimis t ic about. While funding constraints prevent us from always delivering the level of service our communi t ies deserve, we are determined to ensure our Au ditor-General reports reflect sound governance and accountability. You are an avid gender equality activist. What are you doing to curb GBVF in your district? GBVF is a deeply painful issue in Xhariep. As we speak, a woman was recently murdered by her part ner, and I am preparing to visit her family. Sadly, they are considering withdrawing the case because the perpetrator was their breadwinner. This illustrates how complex and heartbreaking the situation is. We are working closely with our Premier, Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, who has visited our communities multiple times to plead with men to stop this cycle of violence. We have also begun engaging directly with men in our communities, believing that if men themselves take the lead in confronting GBVF, we may finally see a decline in this scourge that continues to claim the lives of our sisters. Do you think you are ready to serve another term as district mayor? If the organisation that deployed me deems it fit for me to continue in this role in the next executive council term, I will gladly avail myself. Ultimately, the decision rests with the organisation.