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This may mark an end to an era of impunity in all 23 municipalities in the Free State Province following the two days joint oversight visit led by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Zweli Mkhize.
The joint oversight initiative of Members of Parliament and Members of the Free State Provincial Legislature held in Bloemfontein from 24 to 25 July 2025, revealed the deep rot in municipalities which included incompetency, failure of accountability, systemic corruption and persistent administrative neglect. The intervention further revealed growing trends within municipalities of weak procurement controls, collapsed financial systems, poor resource management, and deteriorating service delivery.
The Free State Premier Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae expressed deep concern over the state of municipalities in her province. She pointed out the lack diligence and accountability is visibly reflected in the streets flowing with sewerage, potholes, irregular to none water and electricity supply to communities.
“The truth is; we are deeply concerned about the state of our municipalities Chairperson; because of inadequate capacity, poor financial management, weak governing systems and institutional instabilities. Many of our municipalities are now in financial and administrative distress, provision of water and sanitation remains a challenge; our streets are littered with garbage, maintenance of water waste treatment plants remains a concern to us as provincial government.
Municipal yellow fleets can easily be found in scrap yards, some roads are in poor conditions and this is known, the debts owed to Eskom and Vaal Central as well are increasing. People are expecting much from us as government and this we can never afford and we are servants of the people. Work to turnaround municipalities has started, work to get the basics right, breathe new life into our municipalities and improve service delivery,” said Premier Letsoha-Mathae.
Dr Zweli Mkhize, reflecting on the state of municipalities called for urgent intervention by the provincial government to assist municipalities to get on track, he said the continued malfunctioning of municipalities must come to an end.
“We have come here to draw a line in the sand. From this point on, all of us – across local, provincial and national government – are working together to restore proper governance and ensure the public receives the services it deserves.
If there was some money that was spent the wrong way, those responsible must face disciplinary action. Internally, they must be taken on, be subjected to disciplinary processes, and if it’s criminal, there must be a proper investigation,” Dr Mkhize said.
Mkhize in introducing a new model of oversight that involves all three spheres of government said there will be no hiding place for accountability; all who do wrong will be subjected to disciplinary action.
“No one will be able to hide behind the separation of powers between different spheres of government. We must understand that we are one government and have a collective responsibility to govern ethically and manage with discipline our public resources so that services are delivered as expected.” he said.
“What we have seen is a change in tone. Many municipalities now understand that accountability is not optional. This is no longer a routine oversight visit – it is a whole-of-government intervention where we want to see demonstrable progress,” continued Dr Zweli Mkhize.
Mkhize said the plan is to institutionalise quarterly reporting cycles. Within six months, another meeting will be convened to assess the municipalities’ performance based on submitted reports. These will be tabled in Parliament to ensure national oversight and public transparency.
“The crises in Free State municipalities are endemic. But with this coordinated effort – from Parliament, provincial legislatures and the provincial executives – we believe we can turn municipalities around. By the time the Auditor-General returns, they must see improvement. For us, improvement is not just about the audit but about improving and rebuilding systems to remove the problems of maladministration, malfeasance, irregularities, corruption, and the culture of impunity, as well as restore ethical leadership and deliver quality services to our people,” said Dr Mkhize.
