Parliament, Monday, 17 March 2025 – The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water & Sanitation) will on Wednesday, 19 March 2025 visit Matjhabeng Local Municipality following the invocation of Section 139 (5) (a) and (c) of the Constitution by the Free State provincial government. The committee will, over the course of the week, also visit Kopanong Local Municipality and Mafube Local Municipality to do a post-intervention assessment to ascertain if the interventions have yielded positive results.
In its correspondence to the National Council of Provinces, the Free State Executive Council sited severe financial and service delivery failures as the primary reason for invoking this section of the Constitution. The municipality owes R6.8 billion to Eskom, and R7.3 billion to the Vaal Central Water Board and the provincial executive was of the view that the municipality is in breach of Section 152 of the Constitution, as it was failing to implement the objects of a municipality. “The committee’s visit to the municipality is intended to interact with the internal and external stakeholders and solicit their opinions on the constitutional, procedural and substantive matters related to the intervention,” said Mr Mxolisi Kaunda, the Chairperson of the committee.
Some of the key stakeholders the committee will interact with include political parties represented in Council, organised labour, business, youth and women representatives, as well as the South African Local Government Association. “The committee remains of the view that the critical sphere of local government must function optimally to ensure the provision of quality services to the people. Efforts to ensure good governance, sound financial administration and provision of quality services is the driving force behind the committee’s visit to the municipality,” Mr Kaunda emphasised.
Meanwhile, the committee will also undertake proactive oversight visits to Mafube and Kopanong municipalities to assess the impact of the interventions invoked in terms of section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution and section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal System Act of 2000 during the 6th administration. The committee will during these visits interact with internal and external stakeholders to solicit their opinions on the impact of interventions.
As part of its programme, the committee will also interact with the South African Human Rights Commission and the Free State Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the report released by the commission on the state of service delivery in municipalities. The interactions are intended to assess if the recommendations by the SAHRC are being implemented by municipalities. The committee will also visit various water and sanitation projects in the municipalities it will visit.
Details of the Visit
Date: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Time: 10:00
Venue: Mafube Local Municipality (Frankfort)
Details of the Visit
Date: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Time: 10:00
Venue: Matjhabeng Local Municipality
Details of the Visit
Date: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Time: 10:00
Venue: Kopanong Local Municipality
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, MR MXOLISI KAUNDA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
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