ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula stressed the importance of industrialisation and job creation at the party’s provincial fundraising gala dinner at Bloemfontein City Hall on Friday (4 September). He said revitalising industrial parks must deliver real economic opportunities, particularly in Botshabelo, where residents have long relied on industrial activity for work.

Mbalula described these interventions as critical for communities grappling with persistently high unemployment.

“It is key, because if you look at Botshabelo and Qwaqwa in this province – areas that account for the largest number of ANC voters – there is little hope when it comes to job creation. In this instance, interventions through industrial parks play a major role in creating employment.”

Thirteen special economic zones are currently operational across the country, while industrial parks have been revitalised alongside public employment programmes that, according to the ANC, have supported more than two million participants since October 2020.

Mbalula said the revival of industrial parks must be felt directly in communities such as Botshabelo, which he noted had once relied heavily on firms that ultimately disinvested.

The comments come against the backdrop of continued criticism from opposition parties over the state of employment and poverty in areas surrounding industrial parks.

Botshabelo, situated more than 60 kilometres from Bloemfontein, and Phuthaditjhaba were among the industrial park areas highlighted during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2019 State of the Nation Address as part of government’s plans to revitalise 16 industrial parks across the country.

The DA previously challenged claims that these areas have experienced meaningful economic revitalisation. Patricia Kopane, previously the DA’s Free State leader and now with ActionSA, argued Botshabelo and Phuthaditjhaba continue to experience severe unemployment and poverty, with surrounding communities allegedly becoming even worse off.

The latest unemployment figures underline the scale of the challenge facing the Free State. The province recorded an unemployment rate of 37.3% in the second quarter of 2026, placing it among the worst-affected regions in the country, behind North West at 38.1%.

Mbalula pointed to government’s housing programme as another area where he said the ANC had delivered, claiming that 451,000 housing opportunities had been created since 2021.

He drew on his own childhood experience in Botshabelo.

“We don’t account for what has happened over the past 30 years with RDP houses. I grew up in a shack in Botshabelo, so my first experience of a proper home was an ANC RDP house. When I could afford it, I bought my mother a house in Bloemfontein, but my sister and her family is still in Botshabelo in an RDP house built by the ANC. You can’t tell me a story in this country over the last 30 years.”

The ANC’s January 8th statement also records more than R50b secured through sector master plans and presidential investment summits, with the party highlighting major projects in energy, water, roads and rail.

In the Free State, the proposed commuter rail link between Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu and Bloemfontein has also been identified as a potentially cheaper transport alternative for workers travelling between the towns and the provincial capital.

Mbalula further pointed to the expansion of electricity access as part of the ANC government’s record, saying access had increased from 57.6% of households to more than 90%.

OFM News/ Kekeletso Mosebetsi sm

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