The council has given Martin Kubeka a notice to suspend him, with an opportunity to respond to the allegation placed before him by the council. 

The intention to suspend Kubeka comes after the municipality was rocked by financial troubles which left the workers unpaid for almost three months. The Free State Municipality had its account attached by the High Court for its failure to pay R26 million of workers pension fund contributions. 

The municipality also has a R300 million debt to the Water Board Bloem Water.

Kopanong Municipality is among several municipalities in the province which survive mainly on national government's equitable share. They can’t make enough revenue from services rendered, due to a large population of an indigenous group of people which the municipality has the responsibility of providing with clean water and electricity, amongst others.

The municipality, which owes R26 million to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) pension fund, is expected to be placed under administration following financial difficulties.

This is to allow for the financial recovery plan at the municipality which also has its account frozen due to the non-payment of these pension fund contributions since 2012.

According to the Head of the Department (HOD) of Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Mokete Duma, the Free State Executive Council (Exco) will soon make its decision whether or not the administration process should be invoked at the troubled municipality, which will be almost similar to the one at the Mangaung Metro Municipality in 2019.

OFM News