Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum approaches court again to get Ngwathe Municipality’s thousands to go to service delivery

Despite the fact that the Ngwathe Local Municipality’s application for leave to appeal was dismissed, the Municipality continues to spend thousands of rand on further appeals. This while AfriForum is doing everything it can to ensure that the original ruling, which authorises the provincial government to intervene and dissolve the municipal council, is implemented by the court without delay.

As residents continue to suffer from poor service delivery and severe water shortages, the Municipality recently filed an application with the Supreme Court of Appeal against the June ruling. This appeal process could take up to three years.

AfriForum will therefore bring an application in terms of Section 18(3) of the High Courts Act 10 of 2023 to request that the court order be implemented in the meantime. Corné Cronjé, AfriForum’s Manager of Community Structures, says that because the implementation of court orders is often postponed pending the outcome of an appeal process, it is in the interest of the communities under the management of the Ngwathe Municipality that the judgment be implemented in the meantime.

“There are exceptional circumstances that necessitate that Judge JP Daffue’s ruling be implemented as soon as possible. The residents of Parys, Heilbron, Koppies, Edenville and Vredefort, among others, cannot be subjected to poor service delivery for years while the appeal process continues,” he says.

Alta Pretorius, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for the Mooi River, says the Ngwathe Municipality has once again proven that it does not have the residents’ best interests at heart. “Instead of spending municipal funds on service delivery, they are being used to bail out the municipal officials who are responsible for the various constitutional, legal and administrative shortcomings in the municipal area. AfriForum will not allow residents to suffer or to continue to pay for these sorts of court cases.”

AfriForum achieved a decisive victory in the High Court in Bloemfontein on 20 June when it was found that the Ngwathe Local Municipality was no longer fulfilling its obligations to residents. The court consequently ordered the dissolution of the municipal council and instructed the provincial government to intervene immediately. This ruling followed years of neglect and incompetence, during which residents were left without reliable service delivery.

Schalk Burger, Chairperson of AfriForum’s Parys branch, says the Municipality is completely out of touch with what is happening on the ground. “It is as if the numerous water leaks, power outages and cratered roads are not being noticed. The community is fed up and decisive action is needed.”

AfriForum calls on the community to stay involved, report injustice and work together to hold local government accountable. This court ruling is crucial for AfriForum’s fight against local government decay. Contact Burger at 082 653 4281 to get involved with AfriForum’s Parys branch.