Staff Writer /25, Tue Nov 2025
Staff Writer /25, Tue Nov 2025
A multimillion-rand state-owned mayoral house in Moses Kotane Municipality in the North West has been left to decay for more than 10 years, drawing sharp criticism from the North West’s permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
The delegation said the abandoned property has become a costly liability that continues to drain municipal resources while providing no benefit to residents.
During an oversight visit as part of the NCOP’s Provincial Week programme, the delegation led by Provincial Whip and leader of the delegation, Sylvia Sithole , inspected several sites in the municipality and raised concerns about mismanagement of public assets and ongoing infrastructure challenges.
Sithole said it was “shocking” that the municipality continues to retain a property that is deteriorating and has not been occupied for a decade. Despite this, the municipality continues to spend money on security, electricity, and other maintenance costs for a house that “serves no purpose” and adds no value to the community.
The Mayoral House, bought for R4 million between 2002 and 2004, has significantly depreciated due to structural defects, including severe roof and plumbing damage. It is now valued at just R1.35 million, while repairs are estimated to cost more than R2 million nearly the equivalent of the municipality’s entire annual infrastructure maintenance budget.
Delegates expressed further concern that the continued retention of the depreciating property places an unnecessary financial burden on the municipality. They warned that without urgent intervention, the house will continue to deteriorate with “no hope of functioning again.”
In 2022 the North West Provincial Legislature made damning allegations that it uncovered massive property corruption and collusion across provincial borders, with properties owned by the province’s housing entity.
The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Aaron Motswana, at the time alleged that the government could have lost a massive R4.9 billion – calculated for the period between 2005 and 2009 – due to the non-collection of revenue from at least 98 000 properties.
This followed after an oversight visit to assess properties in Gauteng, the Free State, and the Northern Cape, which were allegedly accumulated from the then Bophuthatswana regime led by Lucas Mangope.
The Mangope regime is said to have also had properties in countries such as Israel, the United State of America and Vietnam, amongst others, where he used to house what they termed governors at the time.
News Junction (Gold Standard)