According to the mayor, Mxolisi Siyonzana, during an ordinary council meeting on Wednesday, National Treasury requested that HODs be reduced from 9 to 7. The ailing municipality, which has been under administration since December 2019 for failure to perform its basic function of service delivery, is also yet to appoint a permanent Municipal Manager (MM) or City Manager (CM). The metro, which is the first metro to be placed under administration and also the first metro to adopt an unfunded budget, has been on the radar of National Treasury with several records of correspondence. Siyonzana says National Treasury wants the metro to amalgamate departments.

READ MORE: Mangaung, only metro to adopt an unfunded budget

OFM News previously reported that Treasury issued a stern warning to the cash-strapped metro about its previous plan to establish the Mangaung Metro Police. 

"Currently, we have nine HODs and National Treasury is reducing those HODs to seven. It is requesting us to combine some of the departments. Once they finalise it, they will come back to us,” he adds.

Siyonzana, however, during the council sitting did not elaborate if the requests were made because of financial reasons.

In a letter sent to the then metro’s City Manager, Sello More, among others, Treasury’s Malijeng Ngqaleni said the Metro Police Unit cannot be a priority, given the financial and service delivery performance.

In this letter, the metro was told that for years it has been ignoring advice from the department. Ngqaleni said warnings to the metro over the years, to manage its expenditure and prioritise basic service delivery of water and waste management, were largely ignored. This then contributed to the metro being placed under administration.

READ MORE: Treasury shoots down planned Mangaung Metro Police establishment

During a council sitting, a brawl between members of the opposition and ANC councillors had a go at each other with opposition members from the EFF and DA lashing at Siyonzana for removing items from the council. They accused Siyonzana of removing items without due process and also failing to explain the powers he has for such a move.

A few months later, after the November 2021 elections, the metro removed its acting CM, Sello More, from his post after a court of law reportedly found his appointment invalid.

READ MORE: #More no more

A month later, the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Mxolisi Dukwana, took the council to court and successfully interdicted the council's appointment of Teboho Maine as the new acting City Manager.

In a two-page judgment, the Free State High Court judge, Sharon Chesiwe, ordered that Maine must be interdicted from assuming any responsibilities in the office of the CM.

READ MORE: New appointment of acting City Manager interdicted

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Social Services' head, Mzingisi Nkungwana, was later in the month appointed as the new acting CM of Mangaung.

READ MORE: #BreakingNews: Mangaung appoints new acting City Manager

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