Important South African city collapsing in front of everyone’s eyes
The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State, the only South African metro currently under administration, continues to face significant service delivery challenges.
Some residents and businesses share these views, saying that poor water and sanitation services, in particular, have made life increasingly difficult.
Like many municipalities across South Africa, underperforming water provision results in nearly half of potable water being lost before it reaches homes or businesses.
Wastewater treatment plants are largely non-operational, leading to raw sewage contamination and severe environmental and health hazards.
Other service delivery woes, like a lack of by-law enforcement resulting in rife illegal dumping and unmaintained roads, compound the issues.
Mangaung is a Sesotho name meaning ‘place of Cheetahs’ and was previously known by the name of its Central Business District, Bloemfontein, which is Dutch for ‘fountain of flowers’.
Bloemfontein was established as a British Fort in 1846 and is currently the judicial capital of South Africa, making it one of the country’s most important cities.
Because of its central location and abundant water, it has served as the capital of several peoples, including the Boer, the Griqua, and the Barolong, who are of Tswana descent.
The Metro is also the birth city of the African National Congress, which was formed in 1912 at the Wesleyan Church in Bloemfontein.
Two years later, in 1914, the National Party was also founded in Bloemfontein, which shows the city’s historic significance.
After merging with surrounding municipalities, Mangaung became one of the country’s eight metros in 2011.
However, in 2022, the cabinet approved an intervention into Mangaung, placing it in the hands of the national government.
According to a Cabinet statement, this was due to “significant financial and service delivery failures” for a prolonged period.
The auditor-general’s latest report paints a bleak picture of the metro’s current financial state, revealing R1.3 billion in unauthorised expenditure.
There was also R227 million in irregular expenditure and R122.5 million in fruitless expenditure in the municipality.
Opposition parties have argued that the metro’s failure to prioritise infrastructure investment has exacerbated its service delivery crisis.
While still under administration, BusinessTech traveled to Mangaung to speak to residents and businesses and learn about their experiences firsthand.
Water provision
Speaking to residents and businesses, water and sanitation services are the most cited service delivery issues in the metro.
“Everyone has been talking about the water crisis in Johannesburg, but the same thing has been happening here for years and years,” said resident Rose Letlape.
“It’s far worse here in the townships. We can go without water for so long, and I have to collect water far from my house after work.”
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) No Drop Report is a national assessment tool used to evaluate municipalities’ performance in managing water losses and ensuring water use efficiency.
According to the most recent report, the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality received an “average” score of 70%.
Currently, the Non-Revenue Water (NRW) loss in Mangaung stands at 49.6%, indicating significant water loss due to leaks and other inefficiencies.
“There are staff at the Water Service Authority responsible for water loss management, but there were shortcomings in the team,” read the report.
“Leak repairs were proven, but an insufficient number of repairs were completed in the 48-hour response time.”
DA Mangaung caucus leader Hardie Viviers said issues such as the depletion of chemicals at water purification plants have been problems for years.
Inadequate reservoir capacity, delayed maintenance, and excessive water leakages have also caused residents unnecessary hardship.
The metro has been attempting to court massive private sector investment in infrastructure development.
A Coronation study showed that water security emerged as the most concerning environmental issue for their clients, with 78% of respondents indicating that investors should prioritise this.
Sanitation services
One of the most critical issues in the metro is the Mangaung Metro Municipality’s failing Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTWs).
The municipality owns and operates 13 WWTWs. According to the DWS, two are in the critical risk rating category, six are in the high-risk category, and the remaining five are in the medium-risk rating category.
BusinessTech visited one of the WWTWs, Sterkwater, whose under-functionality has severely polluted surrounding freshwater sources and impacted the residents.
Kilometers away from the actual site, the odour of raw sewage hits you. Upon arrival, it was clear that much of the site remained idle, with raw sewage spilling into its surroundings.
One worker at the plant, who asked to remain anonymous for job security reasons, said that while many large-scale investment commitments are made, this does not materialise on the ground.
“We feel like we are surgeons asked to operate with zero equipment. We are doing our best, but it feels like it’s just too much,” he said.
One resident, who has a plot of land nearby, said that his livelihood has been severely impacted by this with his crops consistently going bad, his animals getting sick and a constant bad smell.
The Mangaung metro told BusinessTech that it acknowledges the plants’ underperformance and has been actively undertaking refurbishment works since 2023 to improve their operation and compliance.
The municipality said it has prioritised a phased approach, with the initial focus on upgrading security measures at several plants.
This includes installing fencing, security cameras, and armed response to protect valuable equipment from vandalism before refurbishment.
The next phase focuses on refurbishing electrical and mechanical infrastructure to restore plant functionality. Thaba Nchu and Botshabelo upgrades aim for completion by late 2025, budget permitting.
The Sterkwater phase 2 upgrade is in the design phase for 2025/2026, while Soutpan and Van Standensrus will be refurbished by late 2025.
Discussions with DWS continue on converting the Dewertsdorp plant to an oxidation pond system to reduce reliance on vandalism-prone equipment.
“However, due to limited budget allocations that need to cater for all of the Municipality’s requirements, the budget that is allocated is not enough to address the current refurbishment and upgrade requirements,” said the metro.
It added that, alongside Treasury, the city is undergoing a water and sanitation reform to try to secure funds intended for investment in water and sanitation infrastructure.
In this strategy, the refurbishment of wastewater plants is of high priority. “This incentive will boost the budget levels greatly,” it said.
Other service delivery woes
Residents and businesses, particularly in the townships of Mangaung, have raised serious concerns about rife litter, bad roads, and failing stormwater drainage.
A drive around the metro will showcase that illegal dumping is rife, raising concerns about its impact on public health.
Some councillors have said that when these issues are raised, they either “go ignored”, or excavators will come on site and “just put the trash in piles.”
Additionally, blocked drains and overflowing manholes are widespread issues. Poor maintenance, insufficient waste management, and planning lead to recurring blockages.
Inadequate infrastructure maintenance forces new drainage into failing systems, while lack of waste education worsens the problem.
While roads in middle—to upper-class areas are relatively well maintained, the story in other areas is completely different.
Government response
Looking at the city’s medium-term revenue and expenditure framework for 2024/25 to 2026/27, the metro concedes that its “finances remain under pressure mainly due to the lower collection rate and the inability of the city to contain its costs.”
Mangaung said that it continues to implement its financial recovery plan, and must be fast-tracked to increase the collection levels, reduce expenditure, increase, and diversify additional revenue streams and attend to the management of surplus, cash, and its equivalents.
“The municipality, therefore, acknowledges that failure to do so will put pressure on cash flow and the liquidity of the municipality,” it read.
The framework acknowledges that service delivery faces challenges, including inadequate integrated infrastructure planning, maintenance backlogs, underfunding of grant projects, high water and electricity losses due to ageing infrastructure, and illegal connections.
“Despite the fiscal pressures facing the city, the budget attempts to deliver on the municipality’s responsibilities, reflect the need to continue delivering effective services, improve efficiencies and not put undue financial pressure on the residents,” it added.
In mid-February, Municipal Manager Sello More said during the city’s Infrastructure Indaba that R3 billion is required to tackle Mangaung’s severe water and sanitation challenges.
More acknowledged the immense strain on Mangaung’s ability to deliver basic services, making the city less attractive to investors.
Approximately 79,000 households still lack access to water and sanitation services, while outdated infrastructure has led to frequent water outages and widespread service delivery failures.
“The ongoing water cuts are due to ageing, dilapidated infrastructure that has been neglected for years. Water treatment plants are either nonfunctional or overwhelmed, worsening the crisis,” said More.
He urged residents to pay for municipal services, stressing that revenue is critical for rebuilding essential infrastructure.
“Many residents still rely on pit latrines and the bucket system for sanitation, highlighting the severity of our challenges. We cannot depend solely on municipal funding to resolve these issues,” said Mayor Gregory Nthatisi.
“We need partnerships and innovative solutions to unlock new resources,” he added.
Other images of service delivery woes
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