As the local government elections approach, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) mayoral candidate for Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Sam Matiase, has laid out an uncompromising blueprint aimed at overhauling municipal governance, enforcing accountability, and restoring dignity to residents.
Speaking on his vision for the municipality, Matiase made it clear that the EFF’s primary mandate is to eliminate systemic corruption and rebuild a functioning local state from the inside out.
Central to Matiase’s strategy is a complete cleanup of the administration to ensure that public resources serve the people rather than corrupt networks.
Highlighting the deep-seated issues that have crippled municipal service delivery across the metro, Matiase stressed that rooted maladministration must be confronted directly.
“We will be able to address service delivery, eliminate corruption, eliminate looting, and get rid of shady elements and all the mess,” Matiase declared, pointing out how years of mismanagement have left key public services underfunded and neglected.
To achieve a clean and efficient administration, Matiase emphasised the necessity of a skills audit to ensure that municipal positions are occupied by qualified, ethical professionals who can perform their duties without political interference.
“We are going to make sure that we walk the talk. We are going to introduce a new culture of professional, ethical behaviour and respect for the citizens,” he asserted.
A key pillar of Matiase’s anti-corruption strategy targets the municipal procurement and supply chain management systems, which have long been vulnerable to exploitation and extortion.
Matiase condemned practices where service providers are subjected to delayed payments and illicit demands for kickbacks.
“We are going to make sure that we eliminate the abuse of procurement and supply management systems...we are going to stop that,” he vowed, pledging that a transparent financial framework will be established.
Furthermore, Matiase stressed that ethical transformation must begin at the highest levels of leadership within the municipality. He noted that sound governance requires strict moral authority from executive leadership to cascade down to every municipal employee.
“There is nothing that can go right in a municipality unless the Mayor and the Municipal Manager set a good, positive, ethical, professional and moral tone,” he said.
Rounding out his priority vision for Mangaung, Matiase anchored his governance plan on restoring human dignity through basic infrastructure, promising an immediate end to outdated sanitation systems.
“We are going to prioritise eradicating pit latrines and bucket system toilets.”
Matisse believes these sweeping reforms will turn Mangaung into a model of clean, accountable, and people-centred governance.
