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 triumphs in long-running court battle against Free State Premier

Media statement also available in: Setswana; Sesotho

Earlier today, AfriForum and the Mafube Business Forum (MBF) triumphed in the High Court in Bloemfontein in a long-running court battle against the Premier of the Free State and 12 other respondents. The full bench of judges found in their declaratory order that the Free State Premier and other respondents, including the province’s Executive Council, failed to comply with court orders issued on 28 April 2022 and 29 July 2021 and are therefore guilty of contempt of court.

Today’s decision stems from the contempt of court application brought by AfriForum and heard by a full bench of judges in the Bloemfontein High Court on 11 October 2024. AfriForum and the MBF’s case is aimed at ensuring sustainable service delivery in the Mafube Local Municipality, which includes Frankfort, Tweeling, Villiers and Cornelia. According to AfriForum, service delivery in Frankfort in particular has virtually come to a standstill.

The respondents were ordered today, among other things, to finalise and implement a financial recovery plan without delay; to immediately stop the pollution of the Vaal and Wilge Rivers caused by the municipality’s wastewater treatment works; and to report to the court under oath within 60 days on the interim measures that have been implemented to prevent the spilling of sewage.

Judges J. Daffue, S. Chesiwe and S. Hefer, citing Dr. Namane Masemola, Deputy Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, in the judgment, stressed that the people of the Free State deserve better. They argued that municipalities must embody a new culture of governance with accountability and responsibility for effective service delivery. Furthermore, the judges argued that the respondents had hopelessly neglected their constitutional obligations and violated the basic rights of the residents of Frankfort and other towns in the Mafube Municipality.

According to Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s Head for the Central Region, the court order is yet another nail in the coffin of the Mafube Municipality, highlighting the municipality’s inability to deliver services. “We welcome the ruling and the fact that the judges point out that the municipality does not have the necessary funds for the upgrading of infrastructure. The ruling once again confirms that the municipality’s underperformance knows no bounds and that it also lacks the political will to tackle the problems. The municipality would rather engage in years of litigation than tackle the towns’ problems. The time is ripe for communities and private institutions to be allowed to deliver services themselves and collect funds for those services,” Grobbelaar emphasises.

Christa Ikking, AfriForum’s Coordinator for the Highlands Region, insists that the municipality is not fulfilling its statutory obligations and is seriously failing the community when it comes to service delivery. “The judgment lists the numerous times that Mafube Municipality has been litigated on charges of poor management and service delivery, but they simply do not bother to comply with the court orders. However, today’s judgment has confirmed that, in cases where there is no respect for the courts, respect will be enforced if necessary.”

According to Ikking, the main focus of the application was to act in the interest of the municipality’s residents and ensure that service delivery is restored here. “Today we have succeeded in a larger goal by compelling the province to intervene and report to the court,” Ikking concluded.