Potso Motoko, the leader of the Mangaung Service Delivery Forum (MSDF), and Joe Mbahare Kekana, the president of Forum 4 Service Delivery, went to court on Monday 27 February to request the Metro Council be dissolved by a judge's order.

In the urgent court application, Motoko and Kekane have also named 12 respondents, including the newly elected Premier of the Free State, Mxolisi Dukwana, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

In the papers before the court, Motoko and Kekana say it is a well-known fact that a number of crises have befallen the metro over the years. 

The duo wants the urgent application brought to court on 10 March 2023. They state that the metro has since failed to adhere to the principles of good governance and this has led to failing to deliver basic and necessary services to the people of Mangaung. 

"This has since resulted in the fourth respondent (Mangaung Metro Municipality) having persistently been in material breach of its obligations to provide basic needs to the residents of Mangaung to meet its financial obligations over a significantly extended period.

In September 2022, MSDF and F4SD threatened to take the metro to court for its failure to provide even basic services to residents. During a media briefing, they outlined their plan to hold the metro accountable over a number of issues that often leave residents frustrated and angry. 

The metro was under administration in April 2022, with the council stripped of its powers by the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). 

ALSO READ: Mangaung stripped of its powers by national government

In October 2022, the acting municipal manager, Tebogo Motlashuping, who was appointed by Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, revealed that the decaying infrastructure, which had been neglected for years, had since led to massive sewage spillages across towns in the metro.

"The maintenance budget of the municipality is also dependent on how much revenue is being collected. If you have an infrastructure that has not been maintained, you are running the risk of having the same crisis that we are having to date. All municipalities in the country, not only Mangaung, have a problem with budgeting for maintenance. We cannot pump billions of money into infrastructure and not maintain it," Motlashuping said.
 
During President Cyril Ramaphosa's Imbizo, held in Bloemfontein in April 2022, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, revealed that the troubled metro is losing about 46% of its water that could have been supplied to residents. Mchunu said this was due to water pipe leakages, which were neglected for years and not maintained or repaired. 

ALSO READ: 'Mangaung loses 46% of its water due to leakages'

In June, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said the metro spent less than 2% of its infrastructure budget on repairs and maintenance.
 
ALSO READ: AG exposes Mangaung’s failed infrastructure maintenance

"Unmetered consumption, theft and a lack of maintenance resulted in average water losses of 49% and electricity distribution losses of 20%. Service delivery protests increased as residents grew increasingly dissatisfied with pothole-riddled roads, having to go for days without water, and refuse sometimes not being collected for weeks.

"Since projects were not completed, the communities’ needs were not addressed, which negatively affected their lives. We continued to identify and report material findings on compliance with legislation at all auditees, including in the area of procurement and contract management," Maluleke reported.

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