Fikile Mbalula’s brother makes Free State cabinet; Mxolisi Dukwana left out in the cold

Sewage water and rubbish, metres from people's homes. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla

By Nonkululeko Njilo

21 Jun 2024

Following the recent elections, the ANC has kept a stronghold on its birth province, the Free State, securing 52% support. Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae has since announced her cabinet in a province beset by widespread service delivery failures, political infighting, unemployment and poverty, and a general lack of economic growth.

Barely a week after being sworn-in and officially inaugurated as premier of the embattled Free State province, MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae has announced the members of her executive, which she hopes will deal with corruption and prioritise service delivery.

Some of her MMCs however are no strangers to controversy, particularly Jabu Mbalula, who is the older brother of the ANC’s secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

In 2022, Jabu was identified as one of several ghost workers who fleeced the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) in Mangaung of millions of rands as they earned huge salaries after the 2021 local government elections, but never worked a single day at the ailing municipality, The Citizen reported.

In 2023, Jabu was appointed the party’s provincial spokesperson. He had previously been appointed SA’s ambassador to Romania in 2017. Prior to his appointment as a spin doctor, he was reportedly active in building ANC structures in the province.

Sixteen months after being elected a spin doctor, Jabu has now been appointed MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport, a position previously occupied by the incumbent premier Letsoha-Mathae.

People walk past sewage water and garbage, metres from residential homes. (Photo:Felix Dlangamandla)

Lacking a clean audit

The members of the executive for the seventh administration were announced by Letsoha-Mathae on Thursday at OR Tambo House in Bloemfontein. They have a huge task ahead of them, given that not one municipality in the province received a clean audit opinion in the past six years, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke found in her office’s 2021/22 local government audit.

Maluleke also found that irregular expenditure remained high in most of the municipalities in the province. In 2021/22, irregular expenditure in the province totalled R1.57-billion — 7% of a total budget of R22.43-billion.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Not a single Free State municipality scored a clean audit in six consecutive years - Auditor-General

The province's financial position was also dire — with Maluleke having suggested that the current financial constraints were likely to be felt beyond 2022/23 “as 80% of municipalities will need to use at least half of the 2022/23 budget to pay for spending in the current year”.

The Lejweleputswa District Municipality offices in Welkom. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

For the MEC for Finance, Tourism and Economic Development portfolio, the premier appointed Moses Makume, who is also the ANC’s deputy chairperson in the province.

Surprisingly, chairperson Mxolisi Dukwana, who previously served as the premier — did not make the cut, which was a second recent blow for him. The first blow was when he failed to impress the ANC’s top officials led by President Cyril Ramaphosa during an interview to be the party’s premier candidate, according to Sunday Times. A source with intimate knowledge of the deployments told Daily Maverick there were talks to have Dukwana occupy the vacant speaker position.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Vrede Dairy Project: Free State official admits he erred when writing a submission to deviate from procurement practices”

Another twist saw the ANC’s former speaker in the province, Ntombizanele Sifuba, who had been re-elected into the position, demoted to now serve as the MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.

For the Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs portfolio, Elizabeth Rockman was appointed as the MEC. The department is embroiled in controversy linked to the multimillion-rand Vrede Dairy Project. Several arrests have been made in connection with the project, including former agriculture MEC and national mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane; former department heads, Peter Thabethe and Limakatso Moorosi; and former CFO Seipati Dhlamini.

Between them, they are facing charges of fraud, theft, corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.

An abandoned state-of-the-art taxi rank not being utilised as it is situated opposite graveyards and far from residents. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Other MECs are as follows:

MEC for Public Works & Infrastructure — Dibolelo Mhlatsi, who retained her position.

MEC for Social Development — Nokwanje Leeto

MEC for Education — Dr Mantlhake Maboya

MEC for Health — Monyatso Mahlatsi

MEC for COGTA & Human Settlements — Teboho Mokoena

Sewage water and rubbish, metres from people's homes. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Stern warning

Letsoha-Mathae issued a stern warning to her executive against disappointing the more than 2.9 million residents.

“You dare not disappoint, we are given a responsibility because we are earning, we are working. We are workers as well. We are public representatives but we really need to work and serve our people, she said.

The premier said that the seventh administration would endeavor to get rid of corruption and deal decisively with those who seek to halt service delivery.

“This administration shall be about fighting corruption, building an ethical state and providing quality services to our people. We make no apologies that our government will deal decisively with individuals who will stand in the way of effective and efficient service delivery. The team that I am announcing today reflects our commitment to addressing key priorities of our government, enhancing public service and ensuring a sustainable future for all our people,” Letsoha-Mathae.

The swearing-in ceremony for the MMCs is expected to take place on Sunday. DM

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Lacking a clean audit

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