The Democratic Alliance (DA) is pressuring the Moqhaka Local Municipality to immediately fill 120 vacant positions within its waste management department, citing a critical service delivery crisis that has sparked community outrage.
This call to action follows violent protests in the Seisoville area of Kroonstad, where residents barricaded streets this week over steep electricity price hikes and a widespread failure of basic services. The DA argues that the understaffed waste management unit is a key contributor to the deteriorating conditions.
DA councillor David Nzunga stated that the posts are crucial and have already been allocated funds in the municipal budget. “The DA has raised concern about the growing shortage of personnel at the waste management department, which is responsible for collecting refuse from 35,114 households across Moqhaka,” Nzunga said.
He warned that the current staff shortage forces the municipality to rely heavily on overtime pay to meet its obligations, leading to burnout. “That also impacts the personnel municipality currently has, as they often submit medical certificates,” Nzunga added.
The protests in Seisoville were fueled by residents’ anger over what they describe as the municipality reneging on a payment agreement. Community members claimed an initial deal was struck where the municipality would collect only 40% of rates and taxes from electricity purchases, with the remaining 60% allocated to the actual electricity cost.
“They agreed with us on a 60/40 ratio… But now they are blocking electricity because they owe a score,” said one frustrated resident.
The financial burden is crushing for many in the community. Another resident, who identified as a CWP worker earning R900, questioned the logic of the hikes: “If I’m paid 900 rand and I’m told to pay 600, where do I get it?”
Beyond electricity, residents raised a litany of other grievances, including overcrowded housing and alleged corruption in the sale of stands. “Our municipality is selling stands that belong to our parents,” one protester alleged.
In response to the crisis, a spokesperson for the Moqhaka municipality stated that the institution is acting on directives from the Auditor General to improve service delivery and revenue collection.
“This is a direct response in terms of the AG’s findings of making sure that we improve on our revenue collection in relation to the tariffs,” the spokesperson said.
He defended the electricity hikes, explaining they are based on annual increments set by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). Furthermore, he revealed the immense financial pressure the municipality itself is under, stating, “The municipality is owed more than 2 billion rand by residents, business and government departments.”
The standoff highlights a deepening crisis in Moqhaka, where a cash-strapped municipality’s attempts to recoup revenue are clashing with the desperation of a community that can no longer afford basic services or tolerate their decline.
