By Thapelo Molefe
Eight municipalities in the Free State have been placed under administration under Section 139 of the Constitution, as the provincial government moves to intervene in worsening governance failures, financial mismanagement and collapsing service delivery systems.
The announcement was made by Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae on Thursday during her budget vote speech at the Kopanong Indoor Sports Centre in Welkom, where she tabled a R658.3 million budget for the Office of the Premier.
The interventions were confirmed by Letsoha-Mathae, who said the situation in local government had reached critical levels and required urgent provincial action to restore stability and financial discipline.
“As part of our interventions, I announced in the State of the Province Address that eight municipalities have been placed under Section 139 of the Constitution,” she said.
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The premier said the intervention was aimed at stabilising municipalities, enforcing compliance with financial recovery plans and improving service delivery performance in struggling local governments.
She singled out Matjhabeng Municipality as one of the affected municipalities, confirming that the provincial government had already engaged its leadership on a financial recovery plan.
“We cannot and will not regress,” she said, adding that compliance with recovery plans was “non-negotiable.”
Letsoha-Mathae said the interventions were not intended to take over municipalities indefinitely, but to rebuild institutional capacity where governance systems had weakened.
“This intervention is not intended to stifle this municipality. Rather, it seeks to strengthen municipal capacity,” she said.
The municipal interventions come against a backdrop of growing concerns about audit failures, revenue collection challenges and poor basic service delivery across parts of the province.
The premier warned that municipalities must improve financial management and accountability or face continued oversight and corrective measures from the provincial government.
A key feature of the intervention programme is a crackdown on “unscrupulous contractors” who receive public funds but fail to complete infrastructure projects.
Letsoha-Mathae said such contractors would be blacklisted to prevent repeated abuse of state resources across provinces.
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The budget speech also highlighted broader governance reforms aimed at improving accountability and restoring public confidence in government institutions.
The Office of the Premier has committed to achieving a clean audit outcome after years of qualified audit reports. Measures include reducing irregular expenditure, enforcing procurement compliance, and ensuring that service providers are paid within required timeframes only when they have delivered.
Letsoha-Mathae also confirmed that lifestyle audits will be conducted for senior government officials in partnership with the Special Investigating Unit, starting with heads of departments and chief financial officers.
“Our fight against corruption is non-negotiable,” she said.
The Office of the Premier has been allocated R96.8 million for administration, R306.1 million for institutional development, R72.8 million for policy and planning, and R182.7 million for monitoring and evaluation.
Letsoha-Mathae said strengthening monitoring systems would ensure that government performance is tracked and corrective action is taken where failures occur.
She also outlined efforts to improve municipal capacity through the placement of engineering graduates, technical support teams and expanded oversight of infrastructure projects.
Despite the governance challenges at local level, the province is also investing in skills development programmes, including the placement of 59 engineering graduates in municipalities across the Free State.
The interventions come as the provincial government intensifies efforts to reform public administration through senior management appointments, institutional restructuring and tighter financial controls.
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Letsoha-Mathae said the state of municipalities required urgent and coordinated action across all spheres of government.
“Our people deserve better,” she said.
The Section 139 interventions will remain in place until municipalities demonstrate improved governance stability, financial management and sustainable service delivery performance.
