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- The ANC's Free State task team is faced with a tough mission to convince Harrismith residents to end their ongoing protests.
- The task team, which met with residents on Thursday, said the concerns raised by the community had persisted for far too long.
- News24 understands the matter will be escalated to senior ANC officials.
In an effort to quell violent protests in Harrismith, the ANC's interim provincial committee (IPC) in the Free State has conceded that the concerns raised by residents to justify their shutdown are legitimate.
News24 understands a second urgent meeting with community leaders is planned for Sunday.
Residents have demanded that President Cyril Ramaphosa visit the area to deal with their concerns.
On Thursday, the ANC, representatives of the Presidency and the South African Communist Party met with community leaders, who aired their concerns about the Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality.
READ | Clover closes SA's biggest cheese factory due to municipal woes in the North West
The ANC leaders, led by former MEC Mxolisi Dukwana, have been tasked with finding implementable solutions to address the demands of angry Harrismith residents.
Residents blockaded roads, and on Wednesday a truck was petrol bombed on the N3.
On Thursday, a senior member of the Free State task team told News24 residents wanted to break away from the troubled Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality and a new municipality to be formed.
READ | Truck petrol bombed in Free State protest, highway closed
Residents said their service delivery needs were never prioritised.
"It has been a long dragging outcome that these people have been saying because their municipality has degenerated to the point that they're not getting the services they used to get in the past, before that area was incorporated into the QwaQwa area [to form] one municipality called Maluti-A-Phofung. So, at the centre of their grievance is for them to be [dissociated] with QwaQwa and rather fall under another municipality," the source said.
Paying
On Tuesday, Deputy President David Mabuza said consumers not paying for water and electricity had added to the massive financial woes faced by water boards and Eskom. He was answering questions during a virtual sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
READ | No serious injuries reported during Harrismith protest
When asked about the debt incurred by the Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality to Eskom since 2013, Mabuza said employed residents were supposed to pay for services. The deputy president, who had already visited the municipality twice this year, said people couldn't just behave like they were indigent while not wanting to pay for services.
In 2020, Eskom attached the bank account of the struggling Free State municipality due to a R5.3 billion debt. The power utility said the account was attached on 21 July 2020 and the money in the account would be transferred to its coffers to help it recover a portion of the debt owed.
Meanwhile, the interim ANC leadership in the Free State said it was looking into the concerns of the residents. It said it would have to find a plan to resolve the matter ahead of their scheduled meeting with residents on Sunday.
