The Department of Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements in the Free State province has resolved not to join the ANC-run Ngwathe Local Municipality in appealing the ruling of the Bloemfontein High Court that it should be placed under administration.
The court ruling was handed down on 20 June 2025 after an application was made by AfriForum, citing the total collapse of service delivery by the municipality.
In this case, AfriForum joined the likes of the Premier of the Free State, CoGTA, the entire provincial cabinet, the Municipal Manager, and the municipality. After the ruling, the council of Ngwathe called an impromptu meeting and resolved to appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) located in Bloemfontein.
However, the provincial CoGTA felt that the ruling was “watertight” and resolved that it would not join Ngwathe. This is contained in a letter by CoGTA MEC, Tebogo Mokoena, written to Mxolisi Kaunda, the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
“We wish to bring to your attention that subsequent to the delivery of the judgment, the Premier, the MEC responsible for Finance and DESTEA and myself, had a consultation with the legal team, which was representing all Provincial respondents except the 1st to 4th respondents, wherein the engagement was to solicit their understanding of the judgment, in addition to further provide us with a way forward considering the outcome.
“It is in the aforementioned meeting wherein the decision was taken that, having considered the extent to which the judgment was watertight and detailed, we resolved to abide and not to appeal the court judgment after advice from the legal team,” Mokoena said in the letter to Kaunda.
Mokoena also expressed reservations about the appeal and its prospects of success, but said, nonetheless, they respect the decision of the municipality.
“Furthermore, it is also in this meeting that we had the opportunity to deliberate on the notice of appeal of the municipality, while we have our reservations about its prospects of success; we need to respect the council’s decision to appeal. We, therefore, as the Department and the Executive Council, will await the court decision on the appeal lodged by the 1st to 4th respondents in this matter,” further reads the letter from Mokoena to Kaunda.
The date to hear the leave to appeal has not been set yet.
The Ngwathe municipality includes towns like Parys, Koppies, Edenville, Heilbron, Vredefort, Kroonkop, and Koepel in the Free State province.
