Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Coreen Malherbe and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Kabelo Moreeng.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Matjhabeng expresses deep concern about the recent City Press report stating that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality is facing imminent bankruptcy due to its substantial debt of more than R14 billion.
The DA therefore calls for:
- A forensic audit of the R14 billion debt, including unlawful expenditure and irregular contracts.
- Criminal referrals where corruption or financial misconduct is identified.
- The immediate ring-fencing of water and electricity revenue to prevent diversion of funds.
- Stability in the municipal manager’s office, with appointments made on merit, not factional loyalty.
- Transparency on the implementation of the 2028 recovery milestones, with quarterly public reports.
While these revelations have now entered the public domain, residents of Welkom, Virginia, Odendaalsrus, Allanridge, Hennenman and Ventersburg have long been living with the consequences of a municipality in freefall.
What is emerging with even greater clarity is that Matjhabeng’s crisis is not only financial but political too.
Political interference has hollowed out governance structures, paralysed financial decision-making, and turned municipal manager appointments into a revolving door for cadre deployment, ensuring that no long-term systems are ever successfully implemented.
We have repeatedly warned that the cost of mismanagement would be paid not in figures on a spreadsheet, but in human dignity:
- Families now experience water shedding from 17:00 until 05:00 daily, with many neighbourhoods seeing outages that last for days.
- 57% of potable water is still lost through leaks, while sewage spills continue to contaminate streets and homes.
- 28% of electricity distributed never reaches paying customers, meaning that paying residents effectively subsidise illegal connections.
- Revenue collection has dropped to 42.3%, far below the national norm of 95%, signalling an irreversible erosion of public trust.
- The City Press report confirms what the DA has stated for years: despite repeated interventions, service delivery has deteriorated, showing that an administration without accountability is simply another layer of failure.
Billions owed, yet money found for vanity events. It is unconscionable that while Matjhabeng risks total collapse, the municipality continues to spend millions on non-essential events and patronage-driven programmes, sending a message that political survival matters more than:
- Repairing broken water infrastructure.
- Safeguarding electricity distribution.
- Restoring sanitation and refuse removal.
- Reviving an economy already crippled by unemployment.
Matjhabeng has been “rescued” through national intervention on paper before, yet residents remain trapped in deteriorating living conditions.
We will not allow this municipality to collapse in silence. We will continue to:
- Table urgent motions to enforce accountability.
- Escalate matters to the provincial and national legislatures where necessary.
- Support residents facing constitutional violations.
- Mobilise legal oversight where state failure violates fundamental rights.
The residents of Matjhabeng deserve a municipality that serves them, not a political elite.