In fact, it appears that after initially seeing modest support, that more residents are now vouching for the petition initiated by vocal Bloemfontein resident, Themba Zweni, on change.org to have the council dissolved. Zweni’s petition, which now has over 550 signatures and counting, calls into question the efficiency of the council at this stage in helping the metro recover from its financial burdens. Zweni tells OFM News he believes Mangaung’s council is compromised at this stage and views its dissolution, as the only way forward.

According to Zweni “the current Standing Rules and Orders of the Municipality are silent on the number of petitioners needed to effect a dissolution whereas the Rules preceding these ones specifically set the number at 500”. He asks “was this provision removed? Was it removed to undermine democracy? How can the people govern when they cannot remove the "freely elected representatives" referred to by the Constitution if Councils decide to make it difficult for residents to remove them”. He remains unwavering in his intentions to forward his request accompanied by the signatures to have the council disbanded.

Zweni’s petition comes amidst the removal of Olly Mlamleli as Mayor of Mangaung Metro via a no confidence vote by secret ballot earlier in August.  The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) was behind the third and final motion of no confidence vote against Mlamleli, since she took the helm as the Mayor of the troubled municipality. In a dramatic twist of events, Speaker, Mxolisi Siyonzana was prevented from officially announcing the voting results due to ANC councillors allegedly staging a walkout. A quorum is needed to make the announcement. The FF Plus maintains that “this does not change the result, as a quorum was present during the vote. Siyonzana later cast the entire voting process into question telling Eyewitness News that some councillors were playing music during voting. Siyonzana later officially announced the results and revealed Deputy Mayor Lebohang Masoetsa would act as the metro’s interim Mayor.

The cash-strapped Mangaung Metro,  which includes Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Dewetsdorp, and Wepener, was placed under provincial care in December 2019, following Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo’s call for Premier Sisi Ntombela’s intervention. The call for intervention came whilst Mangaung was reeling from two downgrades by credit ratings agency Moody’s, which was deemed to be a reflection of the municipality’s weak and declining liquidity position and meant there was a high risk the municipality will not be able to fulfill its obligations. This was evidenced by the metro being dragged to court by Bloem Water over its now more than R1 billion water bill, as well as a subsequent failure to pay salaries on time in January 2020. According to National Treasury, the Mangaung Municipality’s finances deteriorated substantially since 2018/19, leading to the adoption of a financial recovery plan, which the national department of Cogta and National Treasury agreed to. An administrative team led by Advocate Mzwakhe Mofokeng was appointed to help dig the municipality out of its financial hole, however it’s alleged the team has faced resistance from within the municipality. 

OFM News