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In April, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the Minister of Finance, Enoch Gondwana, appointed a national intervention team managed by the acting Municipal Manager, Tebogo Motlashuping. The terms of reference were approved to better service delivery and get the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM) finances back on track.

This intervention team has however proved to be the disaster of the year. Six months after their appointment service delivery has deteriorated into a crisis. Service delivery in the municipality has ground to a halt. Ongoing water, sewage, refuse and electricity disasters have become a daily norm for residents of Mangaung.

Councillors do not get any assistance from acting Heads of Departments (HODs) to resolve recurring problems that include sewerage management, water leaks, and ongoing refuse collection challenges. None of the HODs has tabled action plans to attend to crumbling service delivery. Worsening the crisis, HODs do not answer their telephones, nor do they reply to urgent emails.

During the council meeting held in April to introduce the intervention team, the DA requested Speaker, Stefani Lockman-Naidoo, provide abridged CVs of all the HODs appointed. The request was denied and six months later the residents of the municipality are paying the price.

The DA will prepare documentation to be tabled in the council for HODs to be charged for substandard performance in accordance with local Government Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers. The DA will no longer allow insufficient management to control failing departments in the municipality. We need leaders that get things done.

Issued by Dirk Kotze - DA Caucus Deputy Chairperson Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality