The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) refused to redetermine the boundaries of the troubled Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality due to fears of significant challenges resulting from the loss of the economic centre and financial revenue.

Residents and farmers in Kestell and Harrismith as well as the DA wanted the struggling Free State municipality to be separated from the remaining Phuthaditjhaba/QwaQwa area largely due to poor service delivery.

According to the MDB, the implementation of the proposed demarcation would have a deleterious effect on the other resultant municipality in the Phuthaditjhaba/QwaQwa area.

The board felt this would inarguably worsen its ability to meet its constitutional obligations and demarcation objectives including the provision of services to the communities in an equitable and sustainable manner.

It said Harrismith is an economically active town (or socio-economic node) contributing immensely to the economic viability of the current municipality.

“Although there’s some evidence that the implementation of the proposal may benefit the Harrismith/Kestell area, on the other hand, the remaining Phuthaditjhaba/QwaQwa area would face significant challenges due to the loss of the economic centre and financial revenue,” the MDB stated among its reasons for not approving the proposal.

In addition, this would also be contrary to section 25(c) of Municipal Demarcation Act (MDA), which deals with the financial viability and administrative capacity of the municipality to perform municipal functions efficiently and effectively.

“There is some evidence that shows that lack of financial and administrative support for major municipal boundary redeterminations have resulted in newly established municipalities not meeting their constitutional obligations,” the MDB said.

It added that the Maluti-a-Phofung Special Economic Zone has as its fundamental core the Harrismith area, thus, splitting the area through this proposed demarcation of the municipal boundaries would disrupt and be detrimental to the national and provincial spatial development plans, which would be against the provision of section 25(h) of the MDA – existing and expected land use, social, economic and transport planning.

The MDB noted that the reasons advanced by the proponents of the municipal boundary change revolved around poor service delivery by Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality in areas around Harrismith.

Communities in Harrismith complain that the municipality is ignoring the area to the benefit of communities in the Maluti part of the municipality (the old QwaQwa).

It maintained that this is a rather a problem of governance and administrative decisions rather than the direct result of demarcation.

“The poor service delivery was unlikely to be resolved by the proposed municipal boundary redetermination, instead the intervention of local government authorities should be encouraged to ensure that the current municipalities provide the necessary services in terms of Section 24(a) of the MDA,” the entity insisted.

The MDB accepted that although changing the municipal boundary as proposed would satisfy the communities in and around Harrismith, it is improbable that the two areas can be separated as there is a well-established socio-economic linkage.

Harrismith serves as a regional economic node, while QwaQwa has historically been a residential and rural area with limited economic infrastructure within the Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality and that many residents from QwaQwa commute to Harrismith for employment, services and commerce, according to the MDB.

The reasons provided by the board have not stopped the Harrismith District Farmers Association from demanding access and to determine the factual and legal basis for public participation that preceded the decision.

They are demanding access to various documents and consultations that eventually led to the municipality not being separated earlier this month.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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