Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Mahalia Kose and Afrikaans soundbite by Cllr Estelle Pretorius.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality will intensify oversight and monitoring of governance, accountability, and consequence management following the appointment of a new Executive Mayor amid ongoing concerns over financial mismanagement, governance instability, and declining service delivery in the district.
In 2025, the Free State ANC provincial leadership reportedly intervened in several municipalities, including the Lejweleputswa District Municipality. The leadership change, therefore, forms part of a broader reconfiguration by the ANC in identified troubled municipalities across the Free State.
The move follows the ANC leadership’s confirmation that multiple mayors in the province will be removed amid concerns about governance failures, instability, and declining public confidence.
Over the years, the Lejweleputswa District Municipality has faced recurring controversies, mainly around financial mismanagement, corruption allegations, and governance instability. Some of the major controversies and issues reported in recent years include repeated negative audit outcomes.
The municipality has also been repeatedly linked to allegations of corruption, irregular expenditure and weak financial controls. The DA in Lejweleputswa, together with other oversight bodies and political parties, has highlighted unauthorised expenditures, irregular tenders, fruitless and wasteful spending and poor accountability systems.
The dire situation at Lejweleputswa District Municipality was also highlighted by the recent Parliament Portfolio Committee visit. During the visit, it was reported that around R141 million of the district municipality’s R156 million budget was spent on salaries, leaving very limited funds for actual service delivery.
The report expressed serious concern that Lejweleputswa District Municipality spends the bulk of its budget on salaries, leaving insufficient funds for service delivery.