WELKOM – An urgent forensic audit of Matjhabeng Local Municipality’s substantial debt of more than R14 billion is being demanded following recent reports that the municipality is facing imminent collapse.
The audit must include examination of unlawful expenditure and irregular contracts, with criminal referrals required where corruption or financial misconduct is identified.
Coreen Malherbe, DA Councillor for Matjhabeng Local Municipality, says comprehensive measures are essential to address the crisis. “There must be immediate ring-fencing of water and electricity revenue to prevent diversion of funds. For these plans to succeed, there must be stability in the municipal manager’s office, with appointments made on merit, not factional loyalty.”
She emphasises the need for transparency regarding implementation of the 2028 recovery milestones, with quarterly public reports that must be strictly adhered to.
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Political crisis compounds financial collapse
“Whilst these revelations have now entered the public domain, residents of Welkom, Virginia, Odendaalsrus, Allanridge, Hennenman, and Ventersburg have long been living with the consequences of a municipality in freefall. What is emerging with even greater clarity is that Matjhabeng’s crisis is not only financial but political as well,” Malherbe states.
Political interference has systematically undermined governance structures, paralysed financial decision-making, and transformed municipal manager appointments into a revolving door for cadre deployment, ensuring that no long-term systems are ever successfully implemented.
Residents bear the cost
There have been repeated warnings about the cost of mismanagement, and this price is being paid not in figures on a spreadsheet but in the daily suffering of residents.
Families now experience water shedding from 17:00 until 05:00 daily, with many neighbourhoods enduring outages lasting for days. A staggering 57% of potable water is lost through leaks, whilst sewage spills continue to contaminate streets and homes. Additionally, 28% of electricity distributed never reaches paying customers, meaning that paying residents effectively subsidise illegal connections.
Erosion of public trust
Revenue collection has plummeted to 42.3%, far below the national norm of 95%, signalling an irreversible erosion of public trust in municipal services.
“Despite repeated interventions, service delivery has deteriorated, demonstrating that an administration without accountability is simply another layer of failure. Billions owed, yet money found for vanity events,” Malherbe notes.
Misplaced priorities
She describes it as unconscionable that whilst Matjhabeng risks total collapse, the municipality continues to spend millions on non-essential events and patronage-driven programmes. “This sends a message that political survival matters more than repairing broken water infrastructure, safeguarding electricity distribution, restoring sanitation and refuse removal, and reviving an economy already crippled by unemployment.”
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“Matjhabeng has been ‘rescued’ through national intervention on paper before, yet residents remain trapped in deteriorating living conditions. We will not allow this municipality to collapse in silence.”
Continued oversight
Malherbe pledges continued action, stating they will table urgent motions to enforce accountability, escalate matters to provincial and national legislatures where necessary, support residents facing constitutional violations, and mobilise legal oversight where state failure violates fundamental rights.
“The residents of Matjhabeng deserve a municipality that serves them, not a political elite.”
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