Slow progress for service delivery in Maluti-A-Phofung

By Emily Setona

QWAQWA – The DA in the Free State has called on government to put the Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) local municipality under administration owing to its shocking lack of adequate provision for basic services to its residents.

In an interview with The Guard DA councillor Moshe Lefuma said the following, “The Maluti-a-Phofung municipality has failed to provide services to the people. The municipality is unable to provide basic services such as water, refuse removal, and electricity, amongst others. The municipality owes ESKOM to a tune of R8.6 billion. Protests are an order of the day because of these. We are at R8.1 billion of unauthorized, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. These simply mean the municipality is unable to manage its funds. The AG has also flagged some material irregularities, mostly the fact that we are unable to keep proper records on what is happening within the municipality. For the past 5 years, the municipality has been getting disclaimer audit reports.”

Many roads in the area are in a deplorable state with gaping potholes and some having the tar scraped off and left exposed in what appears to be incomplete roadwork projects.

“We have been in this situation of horrendous roads for many years, and this has become a reality for us to live in this state. We must budget money for tyres and rims due to these potholes. We are not being taken seriously as the residents of Qwaqwa,” Kgauta Mokgatla who is a resident of Qwaqwa said.
DA councillor Alison Oates said the municipality shifts the blame to the provincial roads department each time that they seek answers for what seems to be unfinished roadwork projects.

“There are packets of tar at the municipality that can be used to patch potholes, but nothing is happening. We only find people on the road hustling for themselves patching potholes and accepting donations from generous motorists. But the tar is sitting there at the municipal premises, while there are people working for the municipality doing nothing to fix those potholes. We have been saying for years that the Maluti-A-Phofung should be put under administration, but Cogta nationally and provincially are doing nothing,” Oates said when speaking to the media.

As part of her 100-day programme MAP executive mayor Malekula Melato visited some pothole patching projects and this is what she shared with the media while checking progress on Mampoi road during the month of July,
“It is clear to see that our municipality has become a construction site and there’s more to come. As you can see, there’s a lot of activity here and elsewhere. For example, the Namahadi residents can bear witness that our Free State government is also playing a big role in fixing that road and others. This pothole patching project is also in Elite, De Bult, Riverside, Kenzi Town with more wards coming on board soon.”

MAP executive mayor Malekula Melato next to MMC of electricity and infrastructure Ditaba Nhlapo using spades to scrape tar off Mampoi road’s potholes.

Free State Department of Roads and Transport spokesperson Walter Macala said the following when talking to the media,
“The department is responsible for a total of 247,85 kilometres of the network within this area of Qwaqwa. The department has recently conducted condition assessment on approximately 90% of its network including roads within Qwaqwa. Therefore, the department is aware of the general conditions of the roads. The roads started to deteriorate over the past five years with the reality of population growth in the area. Most defects are attributed to leaks in water lines and malfunctioning of stormwater systems due to people having built houses in waterways and channel outlets.”

“A project plan has been drawn up and is being implemented by the contractor to deal with not only the road surface but also the water channels. Two roads in Lusaka and Dithotaneng have had their surfacing removed as part of preparing work areas for the local SMMEs because these roads shall be paved by interlocking bricks done by them.”