Free State residents are left without water as municipal officials bicker

Residents of Qholaqwhe village in Qwaqwa, eastern Free State, draw water from a reservoir. Their taps have been dry for over a year. Photos: Tladi Moloi

• The municipality of Maluti-a-Phofung decided in February 2024 to close its own failing water entity, MAP Water, which is wholly owned, and bring services back under the municipality.
• MAP Water CEO Willie Lefora, who secured a court injunction against his suspension but was later served with a retrenchment order, claims he is being punished for refusing to funnel money to politicians.
• Lefora claims the water entity has also been starved of funds to the tune of R570 million since 2013 and unable to do its work.
• Meanwhile, residents across the municipality are dealing with interrupted water supplies and unaddressed sewage leaks.

In the municipality of Maluti-a-Phofung, residents are confronted with water problems. Residents of Pereng, Qholaqhewe, Mabolela and Mphatlalatsane are experiencing interrupted supply, while people in Phuthaditjhaba, Clubview, Bluegumbosch and Tshiame are complaining about sewage leaks that are never addressed.

On February 28, 2024, the municipality laid the blame on its water entity, which it established in 2006 and which it fully owns: Maluti-a-Phofung Water (Pty) Ltd, better known as MAP Water.

It was decided to close the entity and restore water and sanitation to the municipality.

According to municipal spokesperson Thabo Kessah: “The Council found that the entity was no longer meeting its legal obligations as a registered company. It had been operating without a board of directors for years and this is a legal requirement. Secondly, tax obligations with SARS were left to the municipality.”

MAP Water will be published in October 2025 employees protested and blocked access to the offices in Phuthaditjhaba.

Kessah says the employees will be absorbed into the community.

In December 2024, the municipality notified Willie Lefora, CEO of MAP Water, of their intention to suspend him.

Lefora subsequently secured an order in the Bloemfontein High Court on February 7, 2025, restraining the municipality from implementing proposed disciplinary measures against him and suspending him.

However, he was given a precautionary suspension notice in March, followed by a retrenchment notice in May.

When asked about Lefora, Kessah replied: “We cannot ask questions about people not related to MAP or MAP Water. Otherwise you will end up asking me questions about Brown Mogotsi and expect me to answer.”

Lefora, who insists he will remain CEO of the water company, says the decision to get rid of him is punishment for his refusal to follow illegal instructions.

“Politicians wanted us [MAP Water’s directors] to steal money from our account, and we continually refused to do so. They wanted me to send the city an invoice and put some money in their pocket.

“After I refused to spend money, I received a message saying I wanted to suspend the agreement [me]followed by the suspension letter,” he said.

Lefora says MAP Water has been out of money for years. In a letter sent to the municipality by Lefora on October 27, 2025, he alleged that the municipality had shortchanged the entity by R568 million since 2013.

Internal financial documents seen by GroundUp show that the municipality paid MAP Water lower amounts than the amounts it charged. For example, in February and March 2023, MAP billed R13.3 million for each month in accordance with the service agreement, but it only received R7.7 million and R7.3 million, falling short by approximately R11 million in those two months alone.

“Our infrastructure is old and we had a plan to replace some pipes,” Lefora told GroundUp. “But we couldn’t do that because the mother municipality doesn’t give us what we always ask for. Areas… have been struggling with water for quite some time because we don’t have money.”

Councilor Alison Oates (DA) says MAP Water is “expected to operate on a shoestring budget”. But she points out that it has not filed financial reports with the Companies and Intellectuals Property Commission as required by law since 2016, and this included a period when Lefora was a board member.

“I ask where those reports are and they have been promised for months,” Oates said.

Both MAP Water and the parent municipality missed the August 31 deadline to submit financial statements to the Auditor General, but did not submit until November 30 and December 6 respectively.

Children watch a brave resident enter the Qholaqwhe Reservoir to collect water.

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