Staff Reporter
BLOEMFONTEIN – The Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Saki Mokoena, has been accused by the Democratic Alliance (DA) of misleading Parliament over the dissolution of the Ngwathe Local Municipality.
The aaccusations follow a long-running legal battle over governance failures in the municipality.
In 2024, AfriForum approached the High Court over the collapse of service delivery and financial governance in Ngwathe Local Municipality. On 20 June 2025, the Free State Division of the High Court ruled that the municipality had breached its constitutional, legislative and regulatory obligations to residents.
The court ordered the Free State Provincial Executive to intervene in terms of Sections 139(4) and 139(5) of the Constitution.
Ngwathe’s application for leave to appeal was ultimately dismissed by the Constitutional Court on 2 June 2026, with costs.
DA MPL Dr Igor Scheurkogel reports that instead of implementing the court’s order, MEC Mokoena incorrectly gazetted the dissolution of the municipality under Section 139(1)(c) of the Constitution.
“Instead of implementing the court order with the seriousness and constitutional discipline required, Free State MEC for CoGTA, Saki Mokoena, caused unnecessary confusion by gazetting the dissolution of Ngwathe under Section 139(1)(c) of the Constitution. This was not the intervention ordered by the court,” Scheurkogel said.
According to Scheurkogel, the court specifically ordered a mandatory financial recovery intervention under Sections 139(5)(a) and 139(5)(b), requiring the implementation of a financial recovery plan to restore the municipality’s ability to deliver basic services and meet its financial obligations.
He further claimed that the incorrect notice was circulated to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), triggering Parliament’s constitutional obligations under Section 139(3)(b). This required Parliament to process the intervention, publish notices and convene a public participation hearing in Parys on 8 July 2026, resulting in additional costs and the mobilisation of parliamentary resources.
Scheurkogel also criticised the MEC for failing to attend the public hearing.
“The MEC then failed to attend the very public hearing caused by his own defective notice. This is an insult to Parliament and to the residents of Ngwathe, who have suffered for years under collapsing services, sewage failures, broken infrastructure and poor financial management.”
He added that dissolving the municipal council just months before the 2026 Local Government Elections, without first implementing the court-ordered financial recovery plan, could further destabilise the already struggling municipality.
Scheurkogel also noted that Ngwathe is among the 69 municipalities whose equitable share has been withheld by National Treasury under Section 216(2) of the Constitution due to financial instability.
The Free State Department of Cooperative Governance has not yet responded to the allegations.
In other news more corruption allegations with money exchanging hands for tenders are piling up fingering Human Settlements officials.
This is a developing story as this might end up in court.
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