‘DO NOT ACCUSE US OF OVERREACH WHEN WE ACT AGAINST FAILING MUNICIPALITIES’ – PREMIER LETSOHA-MATHAE
Action will be taken against failing municipalities and the Premier will not entertain talk of interference from the leadership of the affected institutions.
Following a bruising 2 days of fielding difficult questions from members of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae made a promise to Dr. Zweli Mkhize, the chairperson of the committee, that the rot in local government will be rooted out.
The Premier further committed that consequence management against officials found to be in contravention with the law will be applied. And when it is, added the Premier, no one should cry foul.
“People often resort to the same old tired excuse that political battles are waged against them when they are supposed to account. That will not fly and we will act, and act hard, against anyone found to have contravened the law.
Mayors, municipal managers, speakers and the entire leadership of our municipalities will be expected to account to the Executive Council. People are receiving salaries with nothing to show for it and we cannot be expected to keep quiet. Action will be taken,” said Premier Letsoha-Mathae. The Premier further said she too was not happy with municipalities, adding that she had already initiated engagements with those at the helm of the institutions.
“As the Premier of this province, I, more than anyone else, am deeply incensed by the state of our municipalities. Since we took office, this administration has had engagements with the leadership of all our municipalities with the aim of getting to the root cause of all the problems we are confronted with,” she said.
“The people of the Free State care little about what happened in the past, all they want is for services to be provided to them.
At the level of provincial government, we have taken action against some of the officials in various municipalities across the province. We have dismissed some and laid criminal charges against the others. This administration has been advocating for individual officials in municipalities to personally be held liable for their transgressions and that is what we are doing,” she said.
Premier Letsoha-Mathae concluded by decrying the lack of empathy from some in the leadership of local government.
“For the longest, some people leading our municipalities have done so with arrogance and little regard for our people because they were not held to account. Their arrogance knew no bounds and as a result, services stalled and the quality of life took a fall. I want to once again remind them that the days of earning salaries with very little to show for it are nearing an end,” she said.
