February 29, 2008, 06:45
Many municipalities are still faced with challenges that lead to poor service delivery. Under-spending and misappropriation of funds are some of the major problems that have been identified across the country. Some municipalities have however managed to improve their general administration.
Residents in municipalities throughout the country have been complaining about demarcation of local authorities, and the Free State is no exception.
One of the local municipalities in the Free State with the least number of towns is the Tswelopele Local Municipality. It is one of the municipalities that have shown an improved performance, especially regarding financial management. The municipality has for two consecutive years won the Free State Vuna Awards. However, the fact that this is one of the smallest municipalities with regard to the number of towns, it does not mean that there are no huge challenges.
Protest actions
Unlike Tswelopele, the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, one of the big local municipalities in terms of the number of towns, has been plagued by numerous protest actions, mainly in the Phomolong area near Hennenman in the Northern Free State.
In recent weeks some residents of Thabong near Welkom, also falling under Matjhabeng, clashed with police, allegedly over the dissatisfying response from the executive mayor.
Meanwhile, MEC for Local Government and Housing in the Free State, Joel Mafereka says when the Municipal Demarcation Board considers changes to the demarcation boundaries, it is not the number of people that will make an impact, but concrete facts that count.
Mafereka says the population statistics were another factor considered when creating the municipalities.
When the municipalities were formulated, they were based on the number of the population, the number of the people in order to create the municipality.
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