21 August 2025 

The Portfolio Committee on COGTA conducted a joint oversight visit to the Free State in July 2025 to assess the state of municipalities and their ability to conduct their core business of service delivery. The oversight visit was part of the parliamentary work mandated by the Constitution. For the ANC, the oversight visits are part of the broader commitment of the organization to entrench the culture of accountability and good governance to accelerate service delivery in local government. 

Numerous municipalities in the Free State painted a hopeless picture, showing the collapse of accountability, governance and financial mismanagement and allegations of corruption as reported by the Auditor General, which has hindered the delivery of services. These problems, which were seen by the entire country, are clearly in contravention of the government’s aspirations and most importantly in contravention of the aspirations of the National Democratic Revolution and the Freedom Charter, which is a lodestar of the ANC.

Today’s Media Briefing by the Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress in Free State Province, Cde Polediso Motsoeneng and their subsequent statement issued on 21 August 2025, restores hope to the government that not all is lost. The ANC has taken a decision to decisively intervene in Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Nala, Lejweleputswa DM and in Masilonyana Municipalities. This action shows that the Free State leadership is committed and has zero tolerance against its comrades, who are the political heads of the municipalities but have not performed to the standards expected by the ANC.

This decision follows the ANC NEC meeting where the President of the Country and the ANC, President Cyril Ramaphosa, conveyed a powerful message to the comrades in local government. In his closing remarks, he stated, “The marching order to all ANC-run municipalities and ward councilors is that we cannot proceed as if it continues to be business as usual. “We need to undertake extraordinary measures to address challenges at a local government level.” We believe that the decision made by the FS PEC aligns with this statement.

As the ANC Study Group in Parliament, we commend this step. Most importantly, we commend the leadership for listening to parliament and in particular the people. We maintain that such actions by the party are necessary to restore the confidence of the people in government and the party. It is important to demonstrate that the people come first, and any hindrance thereof is a threat to the very values that define the ANC and government.

We urge local government officials to serve the people with care and dedication and protect the image of government in all their actions. We further encourage the ANC in the province to ensure that there is an accountability ecosystem in local government where both administrative and political leaders in three spheres of government play their part in ensuring the improvement of local government as the face of government.

Issued by the Whip of the Study Group on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cde Dikeledi Direko

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Cde: Hlengiwe Hadebe 

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