Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter Former Free State premier Ace Magashule says some people have been approached to come forward and make false claims against him in the asbestos corruption case which is set to go on trial soon. He made the claim on Tuesday while addressing journalists outside the Free State High Court after the pre-trial conference was postponed to November 3. “People are being asked to come and make false claims about me when the trial starts,” said Magashule without stating who the people are. He would also not indicate if these people had been approached by the state to give…

Staff Reporter The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has been ordered to dissolve its metro police service and to institute disciplinary procedures against officials who played a role in establishing the law-enforcement agency. In a strongly worded letter, national treasury deputy director-general for intergovernmental relations Malijeng Ngqaleni ordered that any official involved in the process of setting up the metro police service, including members of the mayoral committee, should be subjected to a disciplinary process. The letter, dated October 14, 2021, was sent to Mangaung acting city manager Sello More and copied to Free State Premier Sefora Ntombela, Treasury MEC Gadija Brown,…

Staff Reporter ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has promised Mangaung residents the party will bring in a mayor that will have the interests of the people at heart and work to improve service delivery in the city. He said this on the second and final day of his campaign mission in the Free State for the local government elections set for November 1. “We are going to elect a new mayor that is going to work for the people of Mangaung,” said Ramaphosa. He acknowledged the poor service delivery in Mangaung but was quick to point out that divisions in the…

Staff Reporter The Free State Legislature has appointed Mapitja Joseph Machaka as its new secretary with immediate effect. A statement issued on Monday by Legislature spokesperson Life Mokone said Machaka, who has been acting in that position, assumed the substantive role starting today. According to the statement, Speaker of the Legislature Ntombizanele Sifuba said Machaka emerged as the best candidate following a rigorous interview process. “This is where a decision was made that Mr Mapitja Joseph Machaka is fit and proper to be appointed and serve as the secretary to the Legislature,” Sifuba said. Machaka started working at the Free…

Organisers of the Mangaung shutdown which brought Bloemfontein to a complete standstill in May over service delivery and administrative issues in the city, the Mangaung Concerned Community (MCC), say they are not happy with the way the Free State capital has addressed their demands because there seems to be a deliberate ploy to derail all efforts to bring better service delivery and management to the city. MCC spokesperson Themba Zweni told The Free Stater they want to see a marked improvement in administration and municipal finances in the coming five years. Excerpts: The MCC had a detailed list of demands…

Staff Reporter ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed to the people of QwaQwa in eastern Free State to vote for the party in the forthcoming local government elections so that they could root out corruption and hire qualified staff in a bid to improve service delivery. Ramaphosa said he was aware that people in the area were not happy with the level and quality of services received, particularly the provision of water and sanitation, electricity as well as free government houses which were last built in 1999 in Harrismith and neighbouring towns. “Many of our municipalities are not serving our…

Staff Reporter Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has urged his supporters in the Free State not to subject themselves to continued poverty and unemployment by voting for the ruling ANC in the forthcoming local government elections. He said this during marathon community meetings in Senekal, Bethlehem and QwaQwa on Saturday. The opposition leader also told the supporters to occupy prime land in the more affluent areas so that they can get services faster unlike the current situation in most townships in the country. “The power is in your hands,” said Malema during a community meeting in Senekal in…

Staff Reporter A 67-year-old woman is facing murder charges after she allegedly hit her 63-year-old landlord over the head with a glass plate, leading to his death, while they were fighting over unpaid rent. According to the police, the incident happened at about 8.30pm on Wednesday in the suburb of Navalsig in Bloemfontein. It is alleged that the tenant was sitting with the landlord’s wife on the balcony of the rented house when the now deceased landlord arrived, demanding payment and threatening to cut the tenant’s electricity. Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said a scuffle ensued as the…

In an interesting court case, an owner sued the body corporate for losses because the insurance would not pay for the cost of fire damage to a unit in a complex. The basis for non-payment was that the unit did not have a valid certificate of compliance (COC) for the electrical connections. While this was a commercial building it would equally apply to a residential property. In this case, the owner claimed that the body corporate had failed to insure the building in terms of the law, which they are obliged to do. The body corporate had insured the building…

Investors are usually attracted to municipalities with good and efficient services including the provision of water, sanitation, electricity and well-maintained roads. When Free State residents go to the polls for the local government elections on November 1, they will be looking closely at how their municipalities have served them over the years and what they would like to see happening in the coming five years. Central University of Technology (CUT) senior economics lecturer Mgcinazwe Zwane says local government is responsible for creating an enabling environment for business, among others. He says the ANC, which has controlled most Free State municipalities…