The re-demarcation of municipal boundaries in the Free State will cause service delivery to decline.
The proposed re-demarcation follows the same failed methodology of creating large, unsustainable municipalities.
The Municipal Demarcation Board’s proposed changes to the boundaries of towns and wards, which were published in the Government Gazette, show that service delivery problems are merely being moved around between municipalities.
Nothing is achieved by taking a town such as Heilbron from the Ngwathe Local Municipality and adding it to the Metsimaholo Local Municipality, apart from moving its debt and problems from one municipality to another.
The residents of the affected towns have already drawn up petitions against the re-demarcation proposals.
The FF Plus would prefer to see that municipalities in the province are made smaller to facilitate effective service delivery.
It would be welcomed if the Municipal Demarcation Board is in favour of the proposal to make the Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality smaller.
The proposal to incorporate Brandfort into Mangaung will only increase the burden on the already bankrupt Metro, and residents of both the Metro and Brandfort will have even poorer service delivery.
The FF Plus is advocating smaller, functional municipalities which work for residents and give them value for their tax money.
The FF Plus wants to encourage all residents to make use of the opportunity to submit comments on the Municipal Demarcation Board’s proposed boundary changes.
Ultimately, the only way to restore and rebuild the Free State and its municipalities is for every eligible voter to register and take part in the 2024 general elections.
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