Author: The Free Stater

THE Free State remains one of South Africa’s least visited provinces despite a national surge in domestic tourism, according to Statistics South Africa’s latest Domestic Tourism Survey (DTS) for 2024. While South Africans took nearly 60 million trips within the country last year – spending a record R60.6 billion – the province captured just a sliver of that travel market, drawing only 3.5 percent of day visitors and 4.8 percent of overnight travellers. The new figures highlight the Free State’s ongoing struggle to convert its central location and rich cultural landscape into real tourism gains, even as neighbouring destinations such…

A FREE State man has been sentenced to life in prison for raping a teenage girl who was friends with his own son. Tebogo Makhanya, 43, committed the offence in March 2023 after he lured the victim, then aged 14, to his home under the false pretext of wanting to discuss with her an issue involving his son. He raped her twice before taking her to an field where he threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident. The victim only gathered the courage to reported the matter in November 2023, leading to Makhanya’s arrest. After he was found…

THE R51-million project to refurbish the Free State province’s largest police station is set to enter its 10th year with no completion in sight, despite originally being scheduled for just 24 months. Work on the Park Road Police Station in Bloemfontein – which began in 2016 – has repeatedly stalled due to contractual and payment disputes. The latest halt occurred in July 2024 after the most recent contractor reportedly abandoned the site following a four-month wait for payment from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. During its oversight visit to the…

FREE State Community Safety, Roads and Transport MEC Jabu Mbalula says the provincial government is concerned that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling allowing a private company to sue his department without statutory notice may set a far-reaching precedent for how state liability is handled in future. Responding to last week’s judgment, Mbalula described the outcome as a “huge and problematic precedent”, adding that the provincial administration would now have to examine the implications beyond the single dispute before the court. “This is definitely a huge and problematic precedent for the whole of government,” the MEC told The Free Stater.…

THE National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has expressed shock and outrage after discovering raw sewage flowing into school premises in Welkom, warning that the conditions pose a serious health hazard to both learners and teachers. During its weeklong oversight visit to the Free State last week, the committee found that pupils at Welkom Secondary School and Lenakeng Technical High School have to navigate flowing waste water and jump over pools of raw sewage just to enter their school gates. The waste reportedly stems from ageing municipal sewer infrastructure and blocked drains. Committee chairperson Joy Maimela said what the…

THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein has dismissed an appeal by the Free State MEC for Police, Roads and Transport, who sought to overturn a ruling that allowed a private company to sue the department without first giving statutory notice of its intention to institute legal proceedings. The case stems from a claim of R234 594.65 brought by Goldfields Logistics (Pty) Ltd, which said it had incurred costs repairing a badly deteriorated provincial road after years of neglect by the department. The company approached the High Court to recover the amount on the basis of negotiorum gestio – a legal…

THE Matjhabeng Investment Summit has set in motion an ambitious investment drive aimed at securing R100 billion to revive economic activity in one of the Free State’s most distressed municipalities. The two-day summit, held in Welkom last Thursday and Friday, brought together senior government officials, business leaders and investors as part of a strategy to reposition Matjhabeng as a regional energy and industrial hub. The summit focused on reversing years of economic decline following widespread mine closures that crippled the Goldfields region. Once the heartbeat of South Africa’s gold mining industry, Matjhabeng has faced prolonged unemployment, poverty and disinvestment. Executive…

THE Free State provincial government has declared a hardline stance against contractors who abandon public projects without completing them, with Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae announcing plans to blacklist all non-performing companies from doing future business with the state. The Premier’s warning follows a high-level meeting on Tuesday involving herself, MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements Saki Mokoena, Matjhabeng Executive Mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha and representatives of the Vaal Central Water Board. The meeting sought urgent solutions to the persistent water and sanitation challenges plaguing the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, particularly in Welkom and surrounding towns. According to the provincial government,…

TWO men have been handed life sentences by the Kroonstad Regional Court for the brutal murder of a local farmer, Eric David Wessels, whose death shocked the Free State community. Mandau Sejani (50) and Daniel Mosiuwa Motaung (52) were each sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and an additional seven years for robbery with aggravating circumstances. The sentences will run concurrently. The court heard that during the night of 24 to 25 October 2020, the two men broke into Wessels’s farmhouse, where they launched a vicious and calculated attack. They assaulted the 58-year-old farmer with blunt objects, tied his hands…

THE University of the Free State (UFS) has suspended all on-campus academic activities across its three campuses following a week of student protests over a new registration requirement set to take effect in 2026. In a statement released on Tuesday, the university said the protests – which turned violent at the Qwaqwa campus – were linked to the introduction of what it described as a “fairer, more equitable and sustainable” financial support framework for all students. Under the new system, only students whose fees or funding have been confirmed will be fully registered. Those funded by the National Student Financial…