A Call for genuine systematic and transparent turnaround in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality
Dear Hon Administrator of the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, the Premier of the Free State, and the provincial MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta)
The recent invocation of Section 139 of the Constitution to place Matjhabeng under administration represents far more than a mere administrative inconvenience – it constitutes a profound moment of reckoning, accountability, and (potentially) historical transformation.
This intervention should not serve as cosmetic surgery on a corpse but as the foundational stone upon which genuine institutional resurrection is premised.
Whether it becomes a transformative catalyst or yet another act of tragic comedy in bureaucratic theater rests entirely within your stewardship.
We approach this development with what can only be described as cautiously caffeinated optimism – alert enough to discern the faintest flicker of opportunity, yet sobered by the grim reality of countless similar interventions that lie buried in the municipal graveyard.
We have seen this play before, and the audience grows fatigued of the same predictable mockery.
Matjhabeng’s descent into institutional entropy has neither been sudden nor accidental. It is the logical conclusion of years of systematised negligence, fiscal vampirism, and the deliberate substitution of public service with institutionalised plunder.
The calculus of sabotage: A strategic warning for the uninitiated
Assume good faith, Sir? That is the luxury for the naive – expect resistance with the creativity of parasites sensing starvation.
We must disabuse ourselves of the quaint, naive fiction that this intervention will unfold unopposed.
Oh no, dear Administrator, the entrenched corrupt elite are mobilising their forces to undermine progress – those who have feasted joyously at the municipal trough are not about to pack up their picnic baskets quietly.
They will deploy their considerable arsenals of obstruction with the devious creativity that only truly threatened parasites can muster.
Their playbook, refined to perfection through decades of uninterrupted practice, is a veritable classic of villainy:
- Disinformation campaigns meticulously crafted to poison public discourse and manufacture consent for the status quo ante, painting reform as the true villain.
- Strategic lobbying for rehabilitation of compromised officials, complete with touching narratives of redemption and procedural technicalities
- Weaponised litigation that transforms courtrooms into battlegrounds where justice becomes a casualty of procedural warfare
- Manufactured crisis timed with mathematical precision to coincide with any genuine reform initiatives, designed to create the illusion that change itself is the very harbinger of chaos
- Co-optation strategies that seek to transform genuine reform into performative gestures that change everything on paper while altering nothing in reality. A masterclass in administrative illusion.
The very gravity of this crisis dictates that you approach these predictable machinations with the intellectual rigor of a grandmaster chess player rather than some wide-eyed tourist wandering through a den of thieves.
The success of this intervention depends not merely on good intentions – the municipal graveyard, sadly, is littered with those. Its success depends on strategic acumen and an unflinching commitment to systemic transformation. Anything less is an invitation to another monumental failure.
A framework for substantive reform: Beyond bureaucratic poetry
The following proposals are offered not as suggestions to be politely considered and quietly filed in the dusty shelves of the municipal registry, but as essential prerequisites for any intervention worthy of the constitutional authority that underpins it:
- Publication of a comprehensive 12-month turnaround blueprint.
This must be a publicly accessible document that transcends the usual bureaucratic poetry of vague aspirations and meaningless metrics.
It must articulate specific, measurable key performance indicators, realistic timelines that acknowledge both urgency and complexity, and transparent reporting mechanisms that cannot be manipulated by creative accounting or selective amnesia
- Comprehensive forensic audit of procurement practices.
A thorough archaeological excavation of all tenders, contracts, and procurement decisions spanning the past five years or longer.
This audit must possess sufficient independence to follow the money wherever it leads, regardless of political sensitivities or personal relationships that might be disturbed in the process.
- Establishment of a civic oversight forum
This is not about tokenistic consultations where community voices echo unheard in empty halls.
This is about establishing a collaborative governance structure that genuinely brings together local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), business chambers, faith-based communities, ratepayers associations, and other stakeholders in a meaningful partnership that transcends tokenistic consultation.
This forum must possess real authority to scrutinise, question, and hold accountable – not merely the ceremonial privilege of being informed after decisions have been carved in stone.
- Implementation of revenue ring-fencing mechanisms
This calls for robust, impenetrable protection of essential revenue streams for electricity, water, sanitation and other critical infrastructure.
Insulating these funds from the magnetic pull of political expedience and ensuring that basic services receive the financial priority they inherently deserve rather than the meager scraps that remain after other less noble interests have been satisfied.
No more cannibalising the very lifeblood of the municipality.
- Creation of a real-time transparency platform
Imagine a digitally accessible portal providing monthly, even weekly updates on recovery progress, infrastructure development, budgetary allocations, and service delivery improvements.
This platform must offer genuine transparency rather than the sanitised public relations exercises that typically masquerade as accountability.
Let the data speak truth to power.
- Establishment of independent monitoring and evaluation systems.
We require mechanisms that provide objective, unblinking assessment of progress, free from the institutional bias that so often transforms glaring failure into resounding success through the perverse alchemy of creative reporting and conveniently lowered expectations
This intervention should not be permitted to disappear quietly into the bureaucratic chaos, suffocated by the usual suspects of endless reports,ceremonial ribbon-cuttings, and recycled rhetoric that utterly sounds impressive in press releases but translates into precisely nothing on the ground.
A moment of historical consequence: The unblinking eye of posterity
History, dear Administrator, will render its verdict on this intervention with the brutal, unsparing honesty that only temporal distance can provide.
Judgment will not be swayed by the sophistication of your PowerPoint presentations, the frequency of your media briefings, or the warmth of your stakeholder engagement sessions. No, it will be determined solely by whether you succeeded in transforming Matjhabeng from a cautionary tale of municipal collapse into a compelling, vibrant narrative of institutional renewal.
The choice before you is deceptively simple yet monumentally profound. You can preside over another failed experiment that joins the litany of disappointing interventions. Or you can orchestrate a paradigmatic shift, establishing new benchmarks for municipal governance that will echo far beyond the borders of Matjhabeng.
The former requires nothing more than competent administration of decline, a task (one might sardonically note) at which many have excelled. The latter demands the courage to challenge entrenched interests, the wisdom to build sustainable systems, and the unassailable integrity to prioritise genuine public service over fleeting political expediency.
We do not ask for miracles, for we are not so naive. We ask, rather, for the radical innovation of doing your job with unwavering competence, absolute transparency, and a genuine unyielding commitment to the public interest.
In the current, often bleak, context of local government, such an approach would be nothing short of revolutionary.
The resurrection of Matjhabeng awaits your leadership. History is the silent unthinking witness. The community, bruised but hopeful, is ready.
The only remaining question Hon Administrator is whether you will rise to meet this moment with the transformative vision it so desperately demands. Or whether you will let it pass into the archives of history as another missed opportunity in the long, sorrowful catalogue of institutional disappointments.
When your term concludes and you return to your private life, will you be able to look the children of Matjhabeng in the eye and honestly say that you left their municipality in a demonstrably better condition than you found it, or will you join the procession of officials who discovered that good intentions are a poor substitute for measurable results?
Lastly, Sir, will this intervention be recorded as the moment Matjhabeng’s institutions were restored to their constitutional purpose, or as another expensive exercise in administrative rearrangement?
Respectfully submitted.
Advocate for Accountability,
Hlabi Mashile
