Central SA
“Mangaung is messed up” - Dlamini-Zuma─── LUCKY NKUYANE 08:22 Sun, 10 Apr 2022
National Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has described the troubled Bloemfontein-based Mangaung Metro as a “messed up” municipality.
Addressing Mangaung residents hailing from different parts of the municipality - including Wepener, Dewetsdorp, and Soutpan among others - she said the national government would be taking over the running of the municipality.
Her statement comes after Cabinet last week announced that the Metro had been stripped of its executive powers and further placed under administration.
READ MORE: #BreakingNews: Mangaung stripped of its powers by national government
Dlamini-Zuma vowed to undertake another visit to the Metro after the coming Easter holidays, with the intention to further deliberate on programmes and the national government’s role in this take-over.
The Metro is the first province in the country to be placed under the care of the national government.
"We have taken a decision that will take the Metro; we are going to take Mangaung. We are going to work together with the ministers of Finance and others to try and get things better in Mangaung. So I am going to come back here after Easter, to just start working on those things, but we are taking over and the decision has been taken and we are still going to work with the province. We are going to work with everyone, but national will be in charge," she added.
The move by national government has since resulted in much speculation that this might be the final nail in the coffin for the troubled Metro, and that its council may be dissolved.
READ MORE: Dlamini-Zuma visits troubled Mangaung Metro
Mangaung Pressure groups like the Mangaung Concerned Community (MCC), among others, have vehemently called for the dissolution of the metro.
They allege that the council should be dissolved because they let corruption thrive under their watch.
The metro has been placed under National Government's control in terms of Section 139 (7) of the Constitution.
This sections states that after a municipality fails to make progress in improving its financial and service delivery performance, Cabinet may decide to place it under national intervention.
This means that the metro can only pass a budget and bylaws.
It does, however, not have the authority to borrow money or appoint employees.
