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The Democratic Alliance will support the new proposals published by the Municipal Demarcation Board on 12 May, to split Maluti-a-Phofung into two new municipalities. This new proposal is closely aligned to the proposal we submitted in March 2022, in which the DA motivated reasons for creating a new municipality to include the towns of Kestell and Harrismith and their surrounding areas, townships, industrial areas, informal settlements, traditional area and nature reserves.

The community completely rejected the previous proposal to include half of Harrismith and Intabazwe into Phumelela municipality, with hundreds of comments submitted.

We believe that the new proposals published last Friday, are what the community have been calling for since the first local government elections in 2001 when four former Transitional Local Councils were lumped together to create the vast and unmanageable Maluti-a-Phofung municipality.

Residents and interested parties have again been given 30 days to submit their comments on the new proposals meaning that 16h30 on 11 June is the final cut-off for comment. It is crucial that the DEM number of the proposal be indicated in the submitted comment. DEM6781 refers to the new municipality including the current wards 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 22 into a new municipality. DEM 6782 refers to the proposal to create a new municipality including the 29 wards in the Phuthaditjhaba, and QwaQwa areas.

We are hopeful that the opportunity to comment on the new proposals will make clear the community’s desire to have two separate municipalities which have separate infrastructure and economic development needs.

Issued by Leona Kleynhans - DA Member of the Provincial Legislature: Free State