Note to Editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Cllr Alison Oates, Afrikaans soundbite by Cllr Eleanor Quinta and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Ana Motaung
The Democratic Alliance (DA) asked questions in the Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) council regarding the municipality’s legal costs. It was revealed that in the third quarter of 2025, the municipality spent 3.6% of its expenditure on lawyers’ fees, amounting to at least R12.5million.
According to the Municipal Manager, Advocate Mofokeng, some of the costs arose due to Map Water entering into contracts with suppliers and failing to ensure that they were paid, resulting in legal disputes.
MAP is currently involved in two major legal issues regarding the illegal occupation of the Platberg Nature Reserve and the legal work to reincorporate Map Water into the area’s company.
The DA is of the opinion that both the illegal occupation of the Platberg Nature Reserve and the current crisis at MaP Water could have been managed better, with problems being addressed before the situation escalated.
The exorbitant legal fees continue to plague the municipal budget despite the municipality having its own department, including an advocate. In addition to this, the responsibility for debt collection has been handed over to a Pretoria-based lawyer, at an additional cost to the municipality.
The DA will continue to highlight ways in which, with proper management, money could be available for service delivery and hold municipal management to account.