Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality explained

Maluti-a-Phofung
Other Name:ThabaDimahlwa
Settlement Type:Local municipality
Seal Size:150x100px
Map Alt:Location in the Free State
Coordinates:-28.5511°N 29.08°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:South Africa
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Free State
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Thabo Mofutsanyane
Seat:Phuthaditjhaba
Parts Type:Wards
Parts:35
Government Footnotes:[1]
Government Type:Municipal council
Leader Party:MAP16
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Gilbert Mokotso
Area Total Km2:4338
Population Footnotes:[2]
Population Total:335,784
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Racial makeup
Demographics1 Info1:98.2%
Demographics1 Info2:0.2%
Demographics1 Info3:0.2%
Demographics1 Info4:1.3%
Demographics Type2:First languages
Demographics2 Footnotes:[3]
Demographics2 Info1:52.5%
Demographics2 Info2:40.8%
Demographics2 Info3:2.0%
Demographics2 Info4:1.5%
Demographics2 Info5:3.2%
Timezone1:SAST
Utc Offset1:+2
Blank Name Sec1:Municipal code
Blank Info Sec1:FS194

Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality (Sotho, Southern: Masepala wa Maluti-a-Phofung; Zulu: UMasipala wase Maluti-a-Phofung) is a local municipality within the Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. It encompasses substantially all of the former bantustan of QwaQwa, except for the small enclave at Botshabelo.[4] [5] The population is almost entirely Basotho. The municipality is named after the Drakensberg mountains (known as Maluti in Sesotho). The peak is known as the Sentinel, which is called Phofung in Sesotho.[6]

Problems

Maluti-a-Phofung is one of the very poor municipalities in the Free State; as of 2011 over 82% live below the poverty line. Prior to 1994, the area was relatively prosperous with over 250,000 people employed in the textile and furniture industries, mostly at low wages. The new South African government terminated industrial subsidies. That and labor agitation for higher wages made the factories uneconomic, and over the next decade most of the factories closed. The last one closed in 2010. At present government is the largest employer followed by a weak retail employment. The municipality itself has been in substantial debt for decades, and owes a considerable debt to both the regional water and electrical utilities (R3,769 million).[7] [8]

Municipal services

The failure to deliver adequate municipal services has been a chronic problem since at least 2000.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] As a result, there have been a number of protests by the populace, among which was the one in Harrismith in 2004.

In 2018, local residents held a mass protest concerning the failure to provide municipal services. The protest turned into a riot, shopping malls were looted,[14] and one man was fatally shot.[15] As a result, Cogta (the Free State Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) intervened and administration was removed from the mayor and local council and placed directly under Cogta,[16] [17] a move welcomed by the South African Municipal Workers' Union.[18]

As of June 2022, there have been some improvements, with delivery of water stabilising, and a better relationship with Eskom.[19]

Politics

See main article: Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality elections. The municipal council consists of sixty-nine members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-five councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-five wards, while the remaining thirty-four are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of forty-seven seats on the council.

Election results

The 2021 election saw the African National Congress (ANC) lose its majority for the first time. Although it still finished with the most seats, a rival grouping led by the MAP16 Civic Movement, founded by a group of ANC councillors who had been expelled for voting to unseat the ANC mayor, who was facing corruption charges, formed a coalition to take control. Maluti-a-Phofung became the first local municipality in the Free State not to be governed by the ANC.[20]

The coalition consists of the MAP16 Civic Movement, Economic Freedom Fighters, Dikwankwetla Party, African Transformation Movement, African Independent Congress and the South African Royal Kingdoms Organization, supported by the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus.[21]

The following table shows the results of the election.[22]

2019 municipal by-elections

In 2019, the African National Congress (ANC) expelled sixteen of its municipal councillors (fifteen ward councillors and one PR councillor) for defying a Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) decision by siding with opposition parties to remove executive mayor Vusi Tshabalala. All fifteen ward councillors contested the by-elections as independent candidates in their respective wards on 28 August 2019, of whom ten were elected. The ANC managed to retain five wards, despite strenuous canvassing by the provincial leadership and former premier Ace Magashule. The table below depicts the new composition of the council.[23] [24]

PartyWard PR list Total
2512 37
100 10
09 9
055
04 4
02 2
01 1
01 1
Total35 34 69

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[25]

Place Code Area (km2)Population Most spoken language
415012.8116,077Zulu
4150233.4629,932Sotho
41503136.146,345Afrikaans
415040.823,685Zulu
4150513.54889Afrikaans
4150625.5223,727Sotho
4150879.6223,858Sotho
4150945.8150,438Sotho
4151059.5886,965Sotho
Phomolong 4151116.516,413Sotho
4151238.4853,175Sotho
4151343.648,131Sotho
41514109.548,876Sotho
4151531.305,039Sotho
415161.154,824Sotho
415179.2412,963Sotho
4151852.414,307Sotho
Remainder of the municipality 415073,721.5815,142Sotho

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Office Of The Executive Mayor. 18 September 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20120319235702/http://www.map.fs.gov.za/en/council/executive/index.html. 19 March 2012. dead.
  2. Web site: Statistics by place . Statistics South Africa . 27 September 2015.
  3. Web site: Statistics by place . Statistics South Africa . 27 September 2015.
  4. News: Payne . Teigue . 18 August 2011 . Lots of factories, no jobs . Mail and Guardian . Johannesburg . https://web.archive.org/web/20110908065608/http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-15-lots-of-factories-no-jobs . 8 September 2011 . live . dmy.
  5. Web site: Southern Sotho . 2000 . Global Security . https://web.archive.org/web/20170318232412/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rsa/southern-sotho.htm . 18 March 2017 . live . dmy . 22 February 2018 .
  6. http://www.salanguages.com/munnames.htm South African Languages - Place names
  7. News: Morapela . Katleho . 6 February 2018 . Maluti-A-Phofung Municipal Mayor to take the heat for #QwaqwaProtests . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180206175818/https://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/257799/maluti-a-phofung-municipal-mayor-to-take-the-heat-for-qwaqwaprotests . 6 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  8. http://www.eskom.co.za/IR2019/Documents/Eskom_2019_integrated_report.pdf
  9. News: Leburu . Diemiso . 20 October 2009 . Strong police presence in Intabazwe township . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180222025211/https://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/79873/strong-police-presence-in-intabazwe-township . 22 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  10. News: Teenager dies after Harrismith protest . 31 August 2004 . Mail and Guardian . Johannesburg . https://web.archive.org/web/20180222030458/https://mg.co.za/article/2004-08-31-teenager-dies-after-harrismith-protest . 22 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  11. News: Morapela . Katleho . 1 June 2017 . Water and sewage problems in Maluti-A-Phofung persists . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180222012603/https://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/243878/water-and-sewage-problems-in-maluti-a-phofung-persists . 22 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  12. News: Mogotsi . Moeketsi . 16 March 2017 . Public Protector draws attention to Maluti-a-Phofung . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20170316204000/http://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/231735/public-protector-draws-attention-to-maluti-a-phofung- . 16 March 2017 . live . dmy.
  13. News: Xaba . Thandi . 4 August 2015 . Maluti-a-Phofung looks like 'a nuclear waste-land' . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180222024211/https://ofm.co.za/article/local-news/169338/maluti-a-phofung-looks-like-a-nuclear-waste-land . 22 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  14. News: Setsing Shopping Complex looted during #QwaqwaProtests . 6 February 2018 . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180222004822/https://www.ofm.co.za/gallery/4423/setsing-shopping-complex-looted-during-qwaqwaprotests . 22 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  15. News: Motse . Olebogeng . 8 February 2018 . FS man shot dead in #QwaqwaProtests . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180208083652/https://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/257853/fs-man-shot-dead-in-qwaqwaprotests- . 8 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  16. News: Mtebele . Nomaqhawe . 11 February 2018 . MEC marks Maluti-a-Phofung for administration . OFM (Central Media Group (Pty) Ltd.) . https://web.archive.org/web/20180211112753/https://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/257973/mec-marks-maluti-a-phofung-for-administration . 11 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  17. News: 21 February 2018 . Appointment aimed at stabilising affairs . News 24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180322211446/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Local/Express-News/appointment-aimed-at-stabilising-affairs-20180220 . 22 March 2018 . live . dmy.
  18. News: Morapela . Katleho . 12 February 2018 . Samwu states Maluti-A-Phofung should rather be dissolved . OFM . Bloemfontein . https://web.archive.org/web/20180212204325/https://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/258018/samwu-states-maluti-a-phofung-should-rather-be-dissolved . 12 February 2018 . live . dmy.
  19. Web site: Slabbert . Antoinette . Goodbye ANC, and now there's water . 2022-06-12 . Citypress . en-US.
  20. Web site: ANC kicked out of power in Maluti-a-Phufong as former councillors take over . 2021-11-19 . www.iol.co.za . en.
  21. Web site: 2021-11-19 . DA in Maluti-A-Phofung worried about corruption, to deal with it in council . 2021-11-20 . SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader. . en-US.
  22. Web site: Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Maluti-a-Phofung . 2023-10-28 . wikitable.frith.dev.
  23. News: Marrian . Natasha . Independent candidates snatch wards from the ANC in embattled Maluti-a-Phofung . 29 August 2019 . Mail & Guardian . 29 August 2019.
  24. Cilliers, Charles. DA wins nothing in Free State by-elections, while independents give ANC a bloody nose, The Citizen, 29 August 2019. Retrieved on 29 August 2019.
  25. http://www.statssa.gov.za/census01/html/lookuptables1.zip Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa