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Falling apart: The AG report has raised concerns about the municipality’s ability to continue operating as its debt spiral deepens and service delivery stalls. Photo: Lunga Mzangwe

Mathjabeng in financial freefall

The Free State municipality is facing severe fiscal distress, with liabilities exceeding R5.8bn and a R871.6 million deficit, says Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke

Unsafe supply: Qwa Qwa residents use river water to do their laundry. They also collect water from the river for their homes. Photo Delwyn Verasamy

No freedom without water

Across South Africa, communities are marking Freedom Day under the weight of an escalating water crisis, where unreliable supply, contamination and ageing infrastructure continue…

The Blue, Green and No Drop certification programmes are the department’s regulatory mechanisms to improve municipal drinking water quality, wastewater management, water conservation and demand management.

SA’s water crisis deepens: Nearly half of wastewater systems critical

The latest Green, Blue and No Drop reports show widespread deterioration of water and sanitation infrastructure. Nearly half of wastewater systems are critical, drinking water…

The ANC is considering legal action after a turbulent Maluti-a-Phofung council meeting in which mayor Malekula Melato was removed, amid claims of a flawed process and a leaked EFF recording.(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Inside the EFF Free State plot to remove Maluti-a-Phofung mayor

In a voice note obtained by the Mail & Guardian, a senior EFF leader is heard saying they would give councillors different coloured pens to identify how they voted and that…

The ANC in Maluti-a-Phofung allegedly brought “thugs” to a council meeting on Thursday to disrupt proceedings intended to discuss a motion of no confidence against mayor Malekula Melato

ANC in QwaQwa allegedly organised “township thugs” armed with knives to disrupt mayor’s removal

A councillor said police had to be brought in to stop the disruptions

The Constitutional Court will rule on whether parliament acted lawfully when it rejected a Section 89 panel report recommending an impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal

Ramaphosa to crack the whip in the Free State

The president will meet the provincial executive to discuss the state of the province’s municipalities

Mosiuoa Lekota was remembered as a towering figure of South Africa’s liberation struggle

Mashatile honours Mosiuoa Lekota as a giant who carried the torch of freedom

Known for speaking truth to power, Lekota’s contributions to democracy, education and social development have left an indelible mark on South Africa’s journey toward equality and…

The joint task force comprising the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to tackle crime will not see soldiers performing ordinary policing functions. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

SANDF deployment to back police set to start on 31 March

National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said the army would play a supporting role to the South African Police Service

Free State premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae

Free State premier declares year of decisive action to fix municipalities, drive economic growth

MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae said the state of municipalities was not encouraging

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announces the 2025 matric results. Photo: Department of Basic Education X account

KwaZulu-Natal tops 2025 matric results with 90.6% pass rate

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said the notion that 30% constituted a pass mark was political sloganism

Exports: South Africa is a leading supplier of citrus to the United Arab Emirates. Photo: Citrus Growers Association of
Southern Africa

South Africa’s agricultural exports boom

The latest data for the third quarter shows that South Africa’s agricultural exports totalled US$4.7 billion, up from 13% from the same period a year ago

DA leader John Steenhuisen.
(Delwyn Verasamy/ M&G)

Steenhuisen confirms 274 foot-and-mouth disease cases in five provinces

Officials said South Africa’s phytosanitary and biosecurity requirements are world class and the department is awaiting bilateral trade agreements to be resolved to begin exports…

Fort Hare University, along with the Centre University of Technology, Free State, has been subjected to xenophobia accusations spread on social media. Photo: Supplied

Fort Hare University: Lies and xenophobia distract from the jobs crisis

State disinvestment in public services, infrastructure and manufacturing ensured that millions would remain trapped in cycles of poverty, with or without immigration

Always in the blood: Antjie Krog’s autobiographical novel Blood’s Inner Rhyme has just been published. Photo: Brenda Veldtman

Returning to the bones of home

Back in the Free State, a daughter rediscovers the textures of home, family and unspoken inheritances in Antjie Krog’s autobiographical novel

Vusi Dlamini, head of operations at the Renergen Tetra4 Virginia Gas Project. Photo: Motlatsi Mofokeng
Video

Free State’s helium gamble: A new energy frontier?

The province is home to the biggest gas and helium project in the country. Will it speed up the shift towards renewable energy sources, or could it potentially hinder progress?…

True transformation: Professor Jonathan Jansen, the first black vice-chancellor at the University of the Free State, approached the Reitz racist students conundrum with steadfastness in the face of doubt, and achieved more than mere expulsion would have done.  Photo: Per-Anders Petterssen/Getty

‘Sit down. The prof has spoken: When Malema came to UFS

This is an edited extract from Jonathan Jansen’s new book, Breaking Bread

Members of The Ugly Veg Company sorting kale. Images by Derek Davey

Ugly vegetables create a beautiful story

A small agricultural miracle is transforming a community in the Cradle of Humankind

The Free State department of education has confirmed that it had to shut schools in the Xhariep district after 100 pupils were infected with influenza B and human rhinovirus.

Free State schools reports human rhinovirus outbreak

The provincial health department ordered the schools to shut their doors after about 100 pupils were infected with the virus, as well as influenza B

Hlaudi Motsoeneng. File photo

Hlaudi mulls joining forces with Ace after elections

The disgraced former SABC boss also has ambitions of becoming premier of the Free State

A motion put forward by an opposition MP aims to have parliament declare South Africa’s entire Free State province, which borders Lesotho. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy & Pieter Bauermeister/Bloomberg

Lesotho MPs discuss reclaiming parts of South Africa

The motion aims to have parliament declare Free State province and areas of four more regions as part of the small mountain kingdom