They staged a protest last week, alleging they had not been paid for the past three months. The financial crisis at the Frankfort-based local authority has been worsened by the National Treasury’s decision to withhold Mafube’s equitable share due to its failure to comply with required financial regulations.

In a statement, the ANC said it had taken note with serious concern of the persistent governance, administrative, and service delivery challenges confronting Mafube.

Under the leadership of Free State premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae, it committed itself to decisive action to stabilise the municipality. 

The intervention, it said, was aimed at “restoring good governance, strengthening administrative capacity, ensuring financial discipline, and stabilising service delivery” for the benefit of the residents of the cash-strapped municipality.

As part of immediate relief measures, the provincial government has moved to ease the burden faced by affected employees. 

The statement confirmed that the provincial government will, as an immediate stabilisation measure, ease the financial burden on municipal employees who have not received their salaries for the past three months, with salary payments expected to be effected by this week.

Mafube under scrutiny

The financial instability at Mafube has been under scrutiny for some time. In March, the select committee on cooperative governance and public administration (traditional affairs, human settlements and water and sanitation) warned the municipality’s poor revenue collection would undermine the Section 139 (5) (a) and (c) intervention implemented by the provincial executive.

Committee chairperson Mxolisi Kaunda expressed concern that the municipality collects only about 20% of service charges. The committee also raised alarm over debts exceeding R1.5 billion owed to Mafube by government departments and ratepayers.

It further discovered the municipality owed approximately R200 million to the South African Local Authorities Pension Fund and the Municipal Workers Retirement Fund. Mafube also owed Eskom about R6.8 billion and the Vaal Central Water Board a further R7.3 billion.

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OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cvs