Ngwathe Local Municipality's council dissolved due to service delivery failures
Image: Simphiwe Mbokazi African News Agency (ANA)
Another Free State municipality's council was dissolved due to years of failure to provide basic services to the community.
The Bloemfontein High Court found that Ngwathe Local Municipality is not fulfilling its constitutional, legislative and regulatory obligations towards the residents of Parys, Heilbron, Koppies and Vredefort.
Following an application launched by AfriForum, the court ordered as part of a structural interdict that the municipal council must be dissolved and that the Free State provincial government must immediately intervene in the municipality's affairs.
In his judgment, Judge Johannes Daffue stressed, among other things, that the municipality and its council are dysfunctional and that provincial government departments, and particularly the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), have failed to intervene in the affairs of the municipality in accordance with the Constitution.
He also pointed out that he deems this a 'suitable case where the court should play the role of a watchdog.' In terms of Judge Daffue's ruling, the Premier of the Free State, the province's Executive Council and the other relevant respondents are directed to implement a recovery plan to restore service delivery and ensure that the municipality meets its financial obligations.
They must also dissolve the Ngwathe Municipal Council and appoint an administrator until a new municipal council can be elected. The executive must further approve a temporary budget, revenue-raising measures or any other measures that will give effect to the recovery plan.
The court also ordered that the Premier, as well as the Executive Council and the MECs for CoGTA and others to report to the court under oath and in writing every three months on the progress in the implementation of the order.
The Ngwathe Municipality is the second in the province to have been placed under administration due to service delivery collapse. Cash-strapped Matjhabeng Local Municipality was recently placed under administration following years of governance failures that left residents without basic services. This was after the Free State provincial government invoked Section 139 of the Constitution against the municipality. The provincial government said this move was aimed at addressing severe financial mismanagement and service delivery failures.
Judge Daffue meanwhile, in addressing the various failures of the Ngwathe Municipality, commented that its instability appears from the turnover of municipal managers since 2022 and the fact that several people are merely acting in senior positions such as that of chief financial officer.
'Other positions have not been filled which must have a serious effect on service provision,' the judge said. He also pointed out that Ngwathe's debt collection rate is extremely low, much lower than the norm and that the existing by-laws are not enforced with any degree of consistency.
'There is no indication when Ngwathe's by-laws would be reviewed as suggested by the municipal manager. No explanation is given for the delay in this regard. Bearing in mind Ngwathe's precarious finances, a review of its by-laws relating to fiscal and credit policies is long overdue,' the judge said. In addressing the municipality's water crisis, the judge said the allegation that the water was not contaminated by faecal matter is false on Ngwathe's own version.
The evidence presented also proved that sewerage spillage is a daily occurrence which has been continuing for several years and it is even flowing into the Vaal River, the judge said.
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