Gauteng legislature slams Merafong Local Municipality over total financial collapse

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Merafong loses about half of its water to leaks, illegal mining, and tampering, while outdated meters and high levels of non-payment have driven collection rates to just 51%, far below the 95% benchmark.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