Note to Broadcasters: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Erna Rossouw
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the North West government’s formal investigation into corruption scandals in the Madibeng Local Municipality.
This comes after continuous pressure by the DA and a referral from the national Minister of COGTA in November 2024, following serious allegations of maladministration, fraud, and corruption.
Madibeng has struggled for years with unstable leadership, poor governance and collapsing service delivery. In the last four years alone, the municipality has seen a string of acting municipal managers. Mr Quiet Kgatla, appointed in November 2024, was suspended just three months later, which led to confusion and court action before he was reinstated by the Pretoria High Court in June 2025.
Meanwhile, Madibeng is sinking financially. The municipality owes nearly R2 billion to creditors — including R1.48 billion to Eskom for bulk electricity and over R800 million for bulk water. Yet households, businesses and government departments owe the municipality almost R4 billion.
The allegations under investigation include duplicate payments to service providers, ignored forensic reports, unauthorised changes to accounts, irregular appointments in IT and security, and failures to follow the law when spending grants. Key oversight reports have not been processed by Council, while committees fail to sit as required by law.
Despite repeated interventions under Section 139(1)b of the Constitution, political infighting, corruption, and poor accountability have continued. Many councillors are frustrated by a lack of feedback or real results from these interventions, which has fuelled public scepticism.
This time, Attorneys Kally, an independent Johannesburg-based law firm, has been appointed to investigate these claims fully. Their report is due by 30 August 2025 and must go to the MEC, NCOP and the national Minister.
Opposition parties have been accused of disrupting Council meetings — but the reality is that the ANC’s abuse of its majority has made proper debate impossible, allowing corruption and instability to continue unchecked. The DA will fully cooperate with this investigation. Our communities in Madibeng deserve honest leadership, value for money, and basic services delivered without corruption or waste.