According to a council member of the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats (AASD), Zwelakhe Msabe,  the municipality, whilst tabling the budget, failed to follow due process and contravened some sections of the Constitution which speak to local governance.  

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

The failure to follow due process apparently contradicts the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), and as such, the council will have to reconvene and table the budget within the right prescripts before 30 June.

Msabe says council members will also have to form a decorum which will then allow it to vote and pass the budget. 

The council, except for the speaker, Stefani Lockman-Naidoo, has 100 council members, and less than 50% of them allegedly voted for the budget whilst the remainder of councillors either did not participate or were not present in the council while others voted against it. 

ALSO READ: Service delivery hinders Managaung economic growth: ASSD

According to Msabe, this means that at least 51 members, which will be the majority, will have to vote for the budget. 

The municipality is yet to comment on OFM News's inquiry into the matter.

"The vote must be debated again before June 30. However, according to the MFMA section 24 and/or section 25, this must happen as soon as possible. 

"Section 25 of the MFMA dictates that in seven (7) days of this failure council must reconvene repeatedly until it passes the budget. 

"However the failure to adopt by June 30 wouldn't rule out administration in terms of section 139(4) read with 5(b) of Constitution," Msabe adds.

OFM News previously reported that opposition parties in council and Mangaung pressure groups expressed dissatisfaction with the budget tabled by Mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana.

According to the local government legislation and rules, "if a municipality has not approved an annual budget, including revenue-raising measures necessary to give effect to the budget, by the first day (1 July) of the budget year, the mayor must immediately comply with section 55 of the MFMA."

The municipality is no stranger to such controversy. In 2019, OFM News reported that the metro, which is currently under national government intervention, became the only metro across the county to adopt an unfunded budget.

The metro adopted the unfunded budget for the years 2018/19 and 2019/20.

OFM News