By 
MAFUBE — National Treasury has taken the drastic step of withholding the Mafube Local Municipality’s equitable share allocation, plunging the ANC-led administration into a deeper financial and political crisis. By invoking Section 216(2) of the Constitution, the national government has effectively choked off vital funding following Mafube’s persistent failure to comply with basic fiscal laws.
The Trigger: Unfunded Budgets and Unpaid Debts
At the core of the Treasury’s intervention is Mafube’s failure to comply with Section 18 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). The municipality has repeatedly adopted unfunded budgets, neglected to address rampant unauthorized, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure, and failed to pay its creditors within the legally mandated 30-day window.
According to Democratic Alliance (DA) Councillor Suzette Steyn, the local opposition had strongly resisted the passage of the current budget. The DA argued that the financial plan presented by the Acting Municipal Manager was unrealistic and lacked any credible strategy to improve revenue collection and eliminate the deficit. Despite these warnings, the ANC majority pushed the unfunded budget through.
Communities Left in the Dark
The real-world consequences of this fiscal mismanagement are currently being felt on the ground. Since July 7, 2026, the majority of residents in Namahadi have been plunged into darkness after power utility Eskom disconnected high-mast and street lights due to soaring, unpaid municipal debts.
This blackout has raised severe security alarms, leaving vulnerable residents exposed to opportunistic crime. This crisis was entirely avoidable; municipal management had received a formal compliance request from National Treasury as early as June 3, 2026, yet failed to secure a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Eskom.
Systemic Collapse Exposed
For years, successive local administrations have attempted to scapegoat a long-standing electricity agreement with Rural Maintenance for Mafube’s financial woes. However, this defense was recently dismantled by the Free State High Court. The court rejected the municipality’s bid to nullify the contract, citing an unjustifiable 13-year delay in bringing the challenge and concluding that Mafube utterly lacked the technical capacity to run the electricity grid itself.
Instead, the roots of the collapse lie in internal mismanagement:
- Outdated Records: The municipal indigent register has not been updated in a decade.
- Neglected Infrastructure: Critical water meters remain broken and unrepaired.
- Abysmal Revenue Collection: Revenue collection rates continue to languish between a disastrous 17% and 22%, despite intervention and support from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).
The Road Ahead
To restore funding, Treasury is now demanding rigorous corrective action. Mafube must present a credible financial recovery plan, sign formal SLAs with bulk suppliers, investigate wasteful expenditure, and prove it can manage its finances. While the DA vows to monitor compliance strictly, the residents of Mafube remain the ultimate victims of a system hollowed out by years of political neglect.
