By Thapelo Molefe and Johnathan Paoli
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has raised alarm over the deepening financial and service delivery crisis in Merafong City Local Municipality, warning that residents continue to bear the brunt of governance failures even as small signs of institutional stabilisation emerge.
Meeting with the Department of CoGTA, councillors and municipal officials, the committee expressed concern over Merafong’s precarious position, citing decaying infrastructure, mounting debt, unimplemented resolutions, and chronic service breakdowns.
Committee chairperson Mzi Khumalo struck a cautious balance between recognition and warning.
“The municipality has started to make progress in strengthening its audit processes, and that effort should not be overlooked. These are small but important steps towards restoring stability. However, sustained progress requires firm leadership, improved revenue collection, and stronger accountability,” said Khumalo.
The committee’s concern was grounded in the lived realities of residents.
In Welverdiend, outside Carletonville, households have endured more than a month without electricity due to broken transformers, while water supply remains fragile following repeated cuts linked to Merafong’s R1.4 billion debt to Rand Water.
A R50 million payment restored about 80% of supply, but full restoration is uncertain.
Merafong loses about half of its water to leaks, illegal mining, and tampering, while outdated meters and high levels of non-payment have driven collection rates to just 51%, far below the 95% benchmark.
Municipal Manager Dumisani Mabuza warned that these systemic constraints, coupled with escalating bulk tariffs and ageing infrastructure, have pushed the municipality into monthly deficits of R72–76 million.
Infrastructure decline is visible across Carletonville’s CBD, where roads, drains and lighting are collapsing, while Merafong’s 2023/24 performance report showed that only 34% of service delivery targets were met.
The committee also raised questions about governance, including the appointment of a Deputy Chief Financial Officer in April 2024 — a position not provided for under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
It has written to the Gauteng MEC for CoGTA Jacob Mamabolo for clarity.
These findings echo those of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), which in March adopted a report following a petition from Khutsong residents.
The NCOP painted a damning picture of collapsing infrastructure and maladministration, and recommended intervention under Section 154 of the Constitution, monthly progress reporting, forensic probes into procurement and hiring practices, and the relocation of households in dolomitic danger zones.
Committee members expressed alarm that most of these resolutions remain unimplemented and have not yet been tabled before the full council.
Executive Mayor Nozuko Best outlined her administration’s progress since Merafong was placed under Section 139(5)(a) intervention in 2021.
At that time, only two senior managers were in place.
A full leadership team has since been appointed, audit outcomes have improved from a disclaimed opinion in 2021/22 to a qualified opinion in 2022/23, and service delivery performance indicators rose from 34% to 76%.
Best credited the implementation of a National Treasury-imposed Financial Recovery Plan, with 44 of 80 findings already resolved.
She also presented a 10-point turnaround strategy, focusing on water security, revenue recovery, sinkhole management, indigent household support, smart metering, and investment promotion.
Mabuza added that while 85% of revenue targets and 96% of expenditure targets were achieved in 2024/25, crippling debt remains the biggest obstacle.
Eskom and Rand Water are each owed R1.4 billion, while Merafong is owed R6.8 billion in debtors — half of it disputed by mining houses that stopped paying in 2014.
Smart metering has barely progressed, with only 200 of 39,000 meters installed. A R300 million capital injection is needed to complete rollout.
Water purchases cost R388 million annually, but sales fall short by R100 million due to leaks, theft and vandalism.
Despite this, Mabuza highlighted future prospects under “Vision 2035: Reimagining Merafong,” which seeks to position the municipality as a renewable energy hub, with nine solar PV farms and two large-scale battery storage projects in the pipeline.
The committee reaffirmed support for Merafong’s turnaround plan but insisted that the scale of the crisis demands urgency, strict compliance with NCOP directives, and stronger accountability.
“These service disruptions are a direct result of poor governance and weak financial management. The people of Merafong are paying the price,” the committee said in its closing statement.
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