The Moses Kotane Local Municipality in Mogwase in the North West has vowed to prioritise basic service delivery like water, roads, and the construction of new RDP houses within its 107 villages and two townships in the 2025/26 financial year.
The council adopted a R225m budget and IDP prompting the municipality to continue with services to the communities.
Speaking on YOU FM Newshour the acting Mayor councillor Dithothi Tshetlhane said the municipality has received a reduced budget due to the cost containment introduced by the national government and the national Treasury.
“The National treasury’s decision to cut the budget from our Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) will have a severe impact on our plans to complete 30 projects that we had already started as the municipality.
With the little budget we received this year, we can only continue with 10 out of the 30 projects we earmarked for this current financial year,” said Tshetlhane.
The Municipality is predominantly rural with 107 villages and two townships being Madikwe, Mogwase and survives on an annual equitable share from the national Treasury.
“We provide free services to all our villages, and unlike other municipalities, we don’t have other ways of making income for ourselves, remember we rely on communities of the two townships to pay for services.
We depend mostly on world acclaimed holiday resorts like Sun City and various correctional centres found within our municipality,” explained Tshetlhane.
The acting Mayor said that the council is committed to avoid mismanagement of funds to fulfil its financial mandate during this financial year.
“We do all within our power to avoid misappropriation of funds to ensure that our multi-year projects are realised.
We also have a responsibility to go back to our communities to inform them about the reduction of the budget and its implications on the projects.
The only way to avoid community protests is to come clean or to account to them on what we did with every little cent we had,” remarked Tshetlhane.
Furthermore, the municipality said that it has adopted a healthy working relationship with Dikgosi who are leading all the 107 villages to ensure a smooth service delivery to all of them.
In addition, it has also committed itself to assist upcoming small and medium business owners to help create much needed jobs in the municipality.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), has recently undertaken a series of project site visits following public hearings held between February to March 2025.
“These visits are part of the Committee’s mandate to strengthen oversight, promote accountability, transparency, and sound financial management within the municipality.
The Committee’s role is to monitor the progress of projects, identify challenges, and ensure that contractors and municipal officials adhere to timelines, budgets, and quality standards,” explained the committee chairperson.
