Free State municipalities under fire over R7bn in wasteful spending, mounting debt

By Levy Masiteng

The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has raised alarm over billions owed to creditors, alongside widespread irregular tenders and more than R7 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure across several Free State municipalities.

This emerged during a follow-up meeting held earlier this month.

Financial sustainability challenges were laid bare in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality, where the committee heard that about R141 million of its R156 million budget is spent on salaries, leaving only around R7 million for service delivery.

Serious concerns were also raised in Letsemeng, Kopanong and Moqhaka local municipalities, where infrastructure failures, unfunded budgets and rising debt to Eskom continue to undermine operations.

In Letsemeng, the collapse of the Koffiefontein Water Treatment Works project and ongoing water shortages in towns such as Petrusburg drew sharp criticism.

“Municipalities must prioritise their service delivery functions, such as water provision,” said committee chairperson