Sentenced prisoners, parolees-turned managers, water mafias and even a municipal minibus operating in a taxi rank in other parts of the Free State are among the questionable expenditures of the struggling Maluti-a-Phofung municipality. These are startling revelations by city manager advocate Mzwakhe Mofokeng, 14 months into his tenure.
Mofokeng said he had uncovered a deep-rooted culture of corruption in the municipality and, since taking office, had dismissed 11 senior managers implicated in irregularities.
“This is my 14th month and I can tell you these people are thugs — and I know how to deal with thugs. These people have been milking this municipality for a long time.
“Some of these people have been suspended because the municipality has been paying individuals who are in prison and even paying for their overtime. Where on earth have you seen that? The person I’m talking about was part of the municipality. He got sentenced, he is in prison and we picked it up.”
One of the officials who Mofokeng dismissed was a convicted criminal who was hired as a revenue manager, just two months after being released from prison.
“This guy did not disclose that he had a previous conviction or that he had been released on parole two months earlier. I fired him for non-disclosure because the law requires you to disclose,” Mofokeng said.
“We have 87 managers who are earning more than R1.4 million. I’m reviewing that and people are not happy. Even though Mangaung is a metro, they have only 16 managers, while we have 87. What do you call that? Some of the managers do not even have job descriptions; they do not have posts. These are non-existent positions in the organisational structure.”
For several years, the troubled Maluti-a-Phofung municipality has been plagued by corruption, maladministration, ghost employees, water cuts, electricity outages and sewage failures, issues that have sparked repeated community protests.
Infrastructure failures have forced several businesses to close or relocate, including the Harrismith abattoir and NLG Gloves which moved to Gauteng. Clothing factories in the area have fallen from 28 to 16 over the past few years.
In 2018, the Free State provincial government placed the Maluti‑a‑Phofung municipality under administration after years of corruption, maladministration and service delivery failures that sparked violent protests.
Amid spiralling non‑payment to Eskom, the municipality’s debt grew sharply and by July 2024 stood at around R8 billion, leading to a North Gauteng High Court order for intervention.
In September 2024, the municipality and Eskom reached an eight‑year distribution agency agreement — extendable to 15 years — designed to restore technical and financial sustainability, enable the municipality to pay for bulk electricity and stabilise services for residents.
The municipality’s financial problems are partly the result of factional fighting in the ANC. Rival groups allegedly appointed staff on inflated salaries — some general workers earning up to R100 000 a month at one point, sources say.
On the service delivery challenges, Mofokeng said the municipality had been spending more than R10m a month outsourcing work that could have been done internally if staff were properly capacitated.
In some instances, he said, “water mafias” deliberately purchased household water pumps instead of industrial-grade pumps, leading to frequent breakdowns and water cuts.
“I’ve bought water tankers because we were spending about R4m every month on them and it didn’t make any business sense.
“The reason I say these people are thugs is that they will shut valves or take advantage of a burst pipe and shut off water to the whole of QwaQwa so that they can profit from supplying water tankers. That is not acceptable.”
Mofokeng said the municipality had also been spending large sums outsourcing TLBs [Tractor Loader Backhoes] and cherry pickers — services that could be handled internally.
“I’ve been spending about R2m on TLBs because the municipality didn’t have any. I’ve now bought four TLBs. I cannot do business with local people at the expense of the municipality. After buying those TLBs, I received death threats from people saying I am ‘closing their taps’.
“Some of the TLBs being claimed for are not even working. We also lacked cherry-pickers, so I’ve acquired two trucks after spending between R1.5m and R2m on outsourcing.
“We have also gone to Parys to pick up a Kombi that was doing rounds but on the NaTIS, it still belonged to the municipality. These are the very same people accusing me of corruption.”
Mofokeng said that before his appointment, the municipality bought generators worth R4.5m but they never worked, were never commissioned and no longer had guarantees.
“We are dealing with thugs here. Not all of them but many of them are thugs.”
Some managers without portfolios signed overtime for others and shared the pay. “We have since addressed the issue of overtime.”
In another case, a manager was found with 20 litres of fuel and claimed it was for staff cutting grass. Mofokeng said the workers hadn’t worked in two weeks because it had rained. “They are stealing petrol every day.”
Senior municipal leaders have accused Mofokeng of acting recklessly and doing as he pleased.
One of them alleged that Mofokeng had taken four municipal vehicles and hired bodyguards without a proper risk assessment. They also raised concerns that while the mayor was driven in one vehicle, Mofokeng allegedly had multiple vehicles and more security personnel.
“There must be a security assessment to justify such protection. Municipal managers are not mayors or speakers and the law does not require them to have blue lights,” the source said.
“Mzwakhe is travelling with four vehicles — you can imagine how many bodyguards he has. He is transported in a Mahindra, a double-cab Ford and another new Ford from MAP Water. They have even modified the vehicles so they don’t look like municipal cars. Recently, his chief protector was arrested for pointing a firearm at someone.”
The source said Mofokeng’s bodyguards were hired irregularly and paid large sums from municipal coffers. Some of the bodyguards were relatives of his personal assistant from Lesotho and were not properly trained.
“The concern is how these municipal vehicles are being used and the overtime being paid. There are no service delivery vehicles in Harrismith yet these cars are being used by the municipal manager,” the source said.
Mofokeng denied the allegations, calling them “nonsense” and said he was not being driven in four municipal vehicles. He had one backup vehicle while the other car he used was his personal vehicle, which he drove himself. Mofokeng said he had worked in government as a chief director for more than 15 years and owned his own high-quality vehicles, making it unnecessary to misuse municipal resources.
He said he has had to arrange security for his own safety because of the contracts he had challenged.
“I have never driven municipal vehicles. Those Mahindras are very heavy and my spine would not handle them. I earn R2.3m, which is enough to buy a good car,” he said. “It is allowed. Previous officials also had external security and records show they spent R1.3m per month. I am not spending that; I only pay salaries of less than R100 000 in total for three people.”
Responding to claims about his personal assistant, Mofokeng said she had served under multiple municipal managers and had been acting in the role.
“I advertised the post because I wanted consistency. She was the best candidate. I did not interview her myself; I simply endorsed the panel’s decision. Whether she is from Lesotho is irrelevant. I have proof that she is a South African citizen. She may have roots in Lesotho but that does not matter.”
Mofokeng said his critics should provide evidence if they wanted to accuse him of corruption.
“They are just irritated and want me gone because there has been a culture of non-compliance here.
“People were appointed to non-existent or unfunded posts and I am correcting that … For the past 20 years, this municipality had a disclaimer. We are likely to get a qualified audit with findings but it is an improvement.
“These people have been milking this municipality for years and that will not continue under my watch. I would rather leave and go home to my children.”
He said he had gone as far as hiring a company from Johannesburg because local appointments are influenced by politics.
“You hire people and the next thing they are being instructed by political structures on who to hire or fire.”
Maluti-a-Phofung city manager Mzwakhe Mofokeng is on the warpath to stamp out rampant and entrenched corruption bringing the town to its knees
