Central SA
DA calls for immediate filling of managerial Moqhaka posts─── ZENANDE MPAME 08:46 Sun, 12 Oct 2025
In order to solve the ongoing leadership gap brought on by vacant Section 56 managerial positions, the DA in Moqhaka will engage with the municipal manager and the provincial authorities.
The Kroonstad-based municipality has had to operate without key officials, such as a chief financial officer, director of economic development, and director of community services. This is since the local government elections in 2021.
In September, the DA blamed the breakdown of local governance squarely on the feet of the ANC’s cadre deployment policy. Several mayors in the Free State have recently been suspended, including Moqhaka mayor Toy Mokatsane, amid growing concerns over service delivery failures.
OFM News reported the provincial executive committee of the ANC in the Free State issued formal suspension letters to several mayors. They include Mokatsane, Lejweleputswa District Mayor Veronica Ntakumbana, and Masilonyana Local Municipality’s Dimakatso Modise.
“We will ensure these critical positions are filled with qualified candidates to restore proper governance and service delivery,” said Moqhaka municipality DA councillor David Nzunga.
“The vacancies have impacted municipal performance and budget planning, as the municipality failed to put a funded budget in place. The services are subpar, and the institution is outsourcing them.
“The ANC resolved to remove the troika (a group of three people working together, especially in an administrative or managerial capacity) of Moqhaka due to a lack of capacity and also cited they failed to appoint section 56 managers, which impacts service delivery.”
OFM News previously reported the Free State ANC leadership had instructed members of the municipal troika, including mayors, speakers, and chief whips from ailing municipalities, to step down. These include Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Nala, and the Lejweleputswa District Municipality.
Some officials have since pushed back against these instructions, escalating their grievances to the ANC’s national leadership and questioning the legitimacy of the provincial decisions.
The DA welcomed Mokatsane’s suspension, describing it as long overdue. “This stems from allegations of weak leadership, which aligns with our long-standing concerns about the ANC’s perceived incompetence in local government,” said Moqhaka DA councillor Chris Dalton.
“The ANC’s cadre deployment has broken municipalities in the Free State. In Moqhaka, mayor Mokatsane’s failures show this clearly.”
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