The committee said in a statement that a meeting set to discuss the status quo at the metro was postponed initially to give the mayor, Mxolisi Siyonzana, and his team time to prepare answers for some of the burning questions. 

But, says Committee Chair, China Dodovu, the metro's team has shown complete disregard for the work of the committee by attending the sitting unprepared.  

MPs did not take this lightly. They reminded the metro team that the constitution empowers the committee and the NCOP with the authority to approve the dissolution of the municipality.

On the agenda for the meeting was the deteriorating state of the municipality and the total collapse of service delivery, despite the municipality being the only metro in the country under administration. Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance, Mxolisi Dukwana, representatives of Salga and labour unions were in attendance.

“It is utterly unacceptable that despite the postponement earlier to give the municipality space to prepare a comprehensive report on progress made, the municipality decided to come to the meeting unprepared and without a report. The City of Mangaung has shown explicit disrespect for the committee and Parliament,” says Dodovu.

On top of the municipality's shoddy state of finances, the committee noted that although the council is only four months old, the political leadership is in the midst of factional battles and this is undercutting efforts to save the city. This, says Dodovu, is leading to fears that the municipality might collapse.

“The unfortunate consequence of the utter disrespect is the lack of service delivery to the people of Mangaung who expect quality service delivery,” he says. While the MP's were infuriated by the metro's team, residents in several neighbourhoods in the city were without water over the long weekend.  

The committee gave the metro until this week to submit a comprehensive report on the state of the city, functionality of the council, financial state of the city, expenditure trends and revenue collection, the establishment of metro police in the city, delivery of infrastructure development projects, especially in relation to water and road infrastructure, as well as relations with the labour union.

“We do this purely to arrest the decline in the city and ensure that we urgently deal with the challenges it faces. This information is necessary for the committee to make an informed decision on the progress of the intervention which is necessary for the future of the city,”  Dodovu explains.

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