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AASD seeks to restore financial stability at embattled Mangaung Municipality

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The leader of  Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats (AASD) in the Free State, who is also the former mayor of Mangaung Municipality, Pappie Mokoena says his party wants to restore the financial stability to the metro.

The party was established in 2016.  Mokoena says they intend to bring accountability where they will govern.

“There is a lack of accountability and a legitimate deficit. There is no trust because they are not accountable to the community, they are only accountable to themselves. So through establishing ward committees and strengthening them, empowering them to participate, we believe that would allow that the municipality would be responsive to the needs of the community.

In the 2019 national elections, the AASD contested for seats in the National Assembly, as well as in the Free State and Northern Cape legislatures.

It was contesting elections for the first time since its establishment.

It says it believes effective citizen participatory democracy is the bedrock of determination of the people’s will and mandate.

The party was formed in response to what the party terms a lack of political and administrative accountability by government at different levels.

 Mangaung in the Free State was declared metro municipality after the 2011 local elections.

Financial position

Since 2016, the metro’s financial position had deteriorated to such an extent that unspent conditional grants, namely the urban settlements development grant, the municipal disaster recovery grant, and the public transport network grant, were utilised to fund operational activities.

This had a negative impact on infrastructure development. The continued lapses in financial management resulted in suppliers not being paid within 30 days. In particular, the long-outstanding amounts owed to the water board prompted regular interruptions of the water supply, which was an infringement of citizens’ basic human needs.

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