The blame for the financial decline of the Dipaleseng Local Municipality (Balfour, Grootvlei, Greylingstad) should be placed squarely on the ANC government’s shoulders.
Years of mismanagement, incompetence and political indifference plunged the Municipality’s finances into chaos.
There has been no improvement, despite the constant warnings and solutions proposed by the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) over the past three years. In fact, service delivery has only worsened.
According to a quarterly report ending 30 September 2025, the Municipality’s debtors’ ledger has grown from R280 million to nearly R1 billion. The municipal coffers are empty due to the Municipality’s failure to collect debt, while its creditor debt has climbed from R220 million to R450 million.
This mismanagement forces loyal taxpayers to carry the burden of non-payers – a system that rewards irresponsibility and undermines service delivery.
The so-called financial recovery plan has delivered no notable results over a decade. The Municipality’s own Audit Committee confirmed this failure.
When these critical issues were raised in the council meeting, the ANC-led Council dismissed them with complete indifference and offered no new solutions.
The ANC’s incompetence and indifference have landed Dipaleseng in a financial sinkhole.
The Freedom Front Plus escalated the matter to Mpumalanga’s MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mr Speedy Mashilo, and demands immediate intervention to prevent total collapse.
The party will monitor all actions to ensure transparency and genuine financial recovery. The interests of Dipaleseng residents should take precedence over political laxity.
