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.

Ngwathe in crisis: Mayor ignores court ruling, plans to appeal again without council’s approval

Soundbite: Alta Pretorius (English)

Soundbite: Alta Pretorius (Afrikaans)

AfriForum warns that the Ngwathe Local Municipality’s latest claims that the municipality is “stable and functional” and that service delivery here “proceeds without interruption” are a desperate attempt to mislead the public and cling to power at the expense of service delivery. Victoria de Beer-Mthombeni, mayor of the Ngwathe Municipality, made these allegations in an official media statement on Friday (20 February) in response to a ruling delivered earlier in the day in the Free State High Court. It stipulated that the court order delivered in AfriForum’s favour on 20 June, last year, must be implemented immediately, despite the municipality’s application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

The municipality has since indicated that it will appeal Friday’s ruling. This brings the total number of attempts by this municipality to cling to power despite court rulings in favour of provincial intervention here to at least five after the case first failed in the High Court; an application for leave to appeal in this court and the Supreme Court of Appeal was dismissed; the municipality’s plan to appeal to the Constitutional Court; and its planned appeal against the approval of last week’s Section 18(3) application.

The Ngwathe Municipality’s notice to appeal the ruling has yet to be filed. This appeal must be heard on an urgent basis. In the meantime, the 20 June 2025 court order may not yet be implemented.

Alta Pretorius, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Mooi River, maintains that claims of stability and uninterrupted service delivery in this municipality are a myth. According to information received by AfriForum from the local community organisation Save Ngwathe, more than 60 water outages and 3 000 power outages were reported in Parys alone within just 72 hours (from Friday 20 February to Sunday 22 February). Some households experienced three power outages in just one day, and several complaints of damage to electrical goods due to the outages were also reported.

“In addition to power and water outages, sewage continues to flow unhindered into the river or through the streets in several places. The provision of power, water and sanitation services are among the most basic services that a municipality is required to provide in terms of the Constitution. To claim under these circumstances that the municipality is not in a state of crisis is misleading and shows that the mayor is completely detached from the reality that the residents of the Ngwathe Municipality are confronted with daily,” explains Pretorius.

In response to indications that the municipality plans to appeal Friday’s ruling, Pretorius makes it clear: “This ruling requires action now – not further delay and legal manoeuvring to evade accountability.”

AfriForum has since responded in writing to the Mayor’s media statement and sharply criticised the continued appeals – which are financed with taxpayers’ money, while basic services are still not being delivered. The civil rights organisation further views the municipality’s intention to appeal the latest ruling without a proper council meeting having been held, as a disregard for the principles of good governance and an undermining of transparency and accountability.

“The residents of Ngwathe deserve better. They deserve a municipal government that accepts accountability, respects the court and prioritises service delivery, rather than personal and political considerations,” says Pretorius. “AfriForum will continue to protect the interests of the community and use all available legal means to ensure that law and order, good governance and basic service delivery are restored in Ngwathe.” Schalk Burger, Chairperson of AfriForum’s Parys branch, says that the communities in the municipality are now becoming discouraged about the cat-and-mouse game that the mayor is playing. “We want to see action now. Experts must now take over in Ngwathe and restore service delivery. We are only moving backwards, and harmony must return to Parys. Unprecedented damage is being caused at this stage, and because the municipality is hiding it, many residents remain in the dark about its extent,” concludes Burger.

AfriForum_Letter to Ngwathe mayor_Feb 2026 Download