Bloemfontein – In an unprecedented move, the African National Congress (ANC) has sacked seven mayors, chief whips, and speakers from the worst-performing municipalities in the Free State province, citing widespread service delivery failures.
The decision to remove the "troikas" – the collective leadership of these municipalities – comes after years of complaints from residents and businesses about the lack of basic services and the failure to execute projects that would benefit communities.
The affected municipalities are Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Nala, Masilonyana, and Lejweleputswa. These municipalities collectively serve over 1 million people and have been consistently flagged as dysfunctional by the Auditor-General for several years.
However, the equally poorly performing municipalities of Maluti-a-phofung and Ngwathe narrowly escaped the axe.
Last week, Sunday World visited Maluti-a-phofung, where the state of the roads was described as an "eyesore". Maintenance work on the road from Phuthaditjhaba to Bolata has been abandoned for months, leaving piles of rocks and forcing motorists to navigate potholes by turning one lane into two.
The Maluti-a-phofung council’s headquarters in Phuthaditjhaba did not even have a single drop of water in its taps. Residents have endured years of unreliable or non-existent water supply. The municipality also faces an electricity crisis, resulting in unpredictable power cuts.
Mothusi Mofokeng, a resident from the area, said the community has been forced to rely on rain and rivers for water. "We are struggling, and nothing has been done here to improve our lives," he said. "The ANC had ruined the legacy of the late prime minister of Qwaqwa, Dr TK Mopeli. It’s a complete mess to say the least."
Masentle Mokoena echoed these sentiments, stating that motorists are forced to buy tyres frequently due to the poor road conditions. "We drive on top of potholes every day, and we are forced to buy tyres non-stop due to these horrible roads," she said. "The ANC had failed to work for us even though we voted for it. We are on our own if you wanna know."
Mandla Mngomezulu added that their appliances are constantly damaged due to the electricity cuts, saying "nothing is working anymore."
ANC provincial spokesperson Thabo Meeko said the party had resolved to take a "no-nonsense stance" against underperforming councillors.
"The ANC Free State decided to intervene in several municipalities through the reconfiguration of troikas," Meeko said. "It went further to instruct Premier Maqueen [Letsoha-mathae] to intervene on administrative challenges, key among them were failures to submit annual financial statements and non-improved audit outcomes."
Meeko explained that the removal of mayors requires concurrence from the national leadership of the ANC. "The ANC internal process is unfolding. The roll call meeting highlighted our commitment to act decisively against corruption, non-service delivery and all the wrongs. This is ongoing work to fix local government," he said.
When asked about the failure to fix the roads in Maluti-a-phofung, Meeko referred Sunday World to the municipality.
However, Maluti-a-phofung mayor Malekula Melato put the blame squarely on the provincial government. "Those roads do not belong to Maluti-a-phofung, but they belong to the province. Please speak to the municipal spokesperson," Melato said.
This bold move by the ANC will be seen by some as a desperate attempt to regain voter confidence ahead of next year’s local government elections, after years of declining support due to widespread dissatisfaction with service delivery and governance in many municipalities across the country.
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