Latest news with #NgwatheLocalMunicipality
The Citizen
04-07-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Ngwathe outlines developement projects to FS Forum
Despite a worrying financial and service delivery picture painted by the High Court in Bloemfontein when the ruling was made that the provincial government must intervene in the Ngwathe Local Municipality's affairs, an image of a municipality committed to economic development was presented at the quarterly meeting of the Free State Provincial IDP Managers Forum hosted in Parys the past week. Addressing the Municipal IDP Managers represented at the Forum, Ngwathe's Municipal Manager outlined the municipality's key development programmes, including a shopping mall between Schonkenville and Tumahole and a private hospital outside Parys along the R59 and a Five Star Hotel as part of the Selete Precinct development. The municipal manager, Dr. F.P. Mothamaha, added that the municipality will keep a watchful eye on spending of grants for current infrastructure projects in all five Ngwathe towns (Parys, Vredefort, Heilbron, Edenville and Koppies). He said the municipality has responded to the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to professionalise local government by appointing highly qualified individuals, such as doctors and engineers, while ensuring that other municipal workers are enrolled with academic institutions as part of rebranding and repositioning the municipality. Selete Precinct The Selete Precinct entails a multibillion-rand development for Parys announced in November last year by project owner, Dr Eric Molefe, and Ngwathe's Executive Mayor. Molefe said the development by Rand Holdings would among others, include a solar plant, rehabilitation of the Parys Airfield to operate as a strategic freight hub, a private hospital, a stepdown facility, private primary and high school, a hotel, a truck stop, and a service station. Although Molefe originally estimated construction teams to be on site by February/middle March, once all plans were submitted and as soon as council gave the final go-ahead, progress has been halted due to various factors since the sod turning, Molefe said during a meeting in May. He then gave the assurance that plans for the development are going ahead. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
‘Communities suffer while municipalities are not held accountable'
Community members and political parties on Wednesday tried to urge the Ngwathe Local Municipality to not appeal to the court judgment for intervention, but to rather prioritise the well-being of the community when they gathered at the municipal building where Council was to make a decision on whether the municipality will appeal the court decision. However, according to court documents an application to the High Court for leave to appeal was filed this week. This follows Judge J.P. Daffue's ruling in favour of AfriForum on Friday, finding the Ngwathe Municipality not fulfilling its constitutional, legislative and regulatory obligations towards residents of Parys, Vredefort, Koppies, Heilbron and Edenville. Daffue ordered as part of a structural interdict that the municipal council must be dissolved and the Free State provincial government must intervene in the municipality's affairs. Speaking on the court ruling earlier this week, Dumisane Magagula, secretary of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), slammed Ngwathe's executive mayor, councillor Victoria de Beer-Mthombeni's defence that her administration inherited a mess, saying that although a legacy issue, it is the successor's entitlement. Magagula was clear that the former leadership cannot be blamed, while given the power and authority to bring change. He explained the aim of a Section 139 ruling as mainly to stabilise a municipality. He mentioned Ngwathe's failure to provide water and sanitation, and said the municipality had been mugged with maladministration and financial chaos, ending up in an over-estimated budget tabled at the State of the Municipality Address. Magagula said it is unfortunate that AfriForum ended up getting the ruling, while the provincial government should have acted earlier. 'Communities suffer while municipalities are not held accountable,' he added. He specifically referred to the budget tabled by Ngwathe, criticising councillors agreeing on a matter, even though it does not make sense and does not benefit the community. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
