BLOEMFONTEIN – The DA’s Mangaung Metro mayoral candidate, Werner Pretorius (36), is poised for the daunting task of rescuing the trouble-riddled municipality in line with the party’s aspiration to take over and run it as a flagship municipality. The opposition party in the Free State announced him on Monday 9 February, at a media event held at the Edge, Naval Hill in Bloemfontein.
The main opposition party is targeting the municipality in the Free State’s capital to demonstrate governance capability, competence, and the ability to deliver basic services. The party named Pretorius ahead of the crucial 2026 local government elections.
Pretorius said he was appreciative of the responsibility bestowed on him as mayoral candidate by the party, and noted that it was a mammoth task of bringing a run-down municipality to full recovery and prosperity.
Calling on voters to also embark on serious introspection, Pretorius has noted that voters’ confidence and psychological mindset remain crucial in the party’s aspirations to rescue the collapsed municipality and bring about real change in the lives of residents.
“Voters, we must be clear about the current state of the Mangaung Municipality and the massive task we face. The Mangaung Metro is the worst-run metropolitan municipality in the Republic of South Africa.
“Voters in Mangaung need to set the tone of what good governance is in the rest of the Free State by voting for the DA, which has a good track record and blueprint in municipalities we govern in South Africa,” said Pretorius.
He described the municipality under the ruling party as a subject for research.
- “The Mangaung municipality is a textbook case of a failed municipality. Anyone wanting to write a PhD thesis or textbook can use Mangaung to write their thesis,” said Pretorius – referring to numerous factors that led to the municipality being placed under administration, in addition to the current leadership’s inability to implement desired change.
The DA’s role has continued primarily as a vocal opposition party and, at times, through coalition-aligned positions in the province. At the height of political turmoil in early 2023, the party briefly held two key positions in the council. Maryke Davies was elected speaker of the council, and David Masoeu was elected as chief whip.
Following the 2016 municipal elections, the DA formed its first-ever coalition in the Free State in the Metsimaholo Local Municipality with the EFF, FF+, and the Metsimaholo Community Association (MCA). This coalition began in August 2016, but collapsed after the MCA withdrew its support, leading to its dissolution in July 2017. By-elections were held and the DA lost control to an SACP-led coalition.
Currently under administration, the Mangaung Metro remains in a severe financial crisis and effectively bankrupt. Despite management claims of “improved performance,” the metro faces ongoing debt downgrades due to poor governance and significant debt, including R1,1 billion owed to Eskom and R921 million to a water board, causing massive infrastructure and service delivery failures.
The municipality is essentially insolvent, with liabilities exceeding assets by R468 million, and unauthorised expenditures at nearly R1,9 billion.
As far as service delivery failures are concerned, the city faces a major infrastructure crisis, with road repairs estimated at over R7,5 billion.
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