Free State Municipality Hires 71 People for 43 Advertised Posts, Sparks Mixed Reactions Online

• The struggling Nketoana Municipality is in the spotlight after cases of irregular appointments were uncovered
• The Chief Financial Officer found in one instance that 71 people were hired for 43 advertised positions
• South Africans shared mixed reactions to the news, with some joking that the municipality was fighting unemployment

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

FREE STATE – A struggling Free State Municipality is in hot water after numerous cases of irregular appointments were noted.

According to the Sunday World, the Nketoana Municipality’s wage bill could rise by R3.6-million after several questionable appointments were discovered.

Chief Financial Officer Jabulani Makubu discovered the discrepancies, which he raised with the Director of Corporate Services, Lisebo Motaung.

71 people appointed for 43 posts

One of the most blatantly obvious cases of irregular expenditure discovered by Makubu was the appointment of

71 people for only 43 advertised posts. Makubu stressed that this needed to be dealt with before they were added to the municipality’s payroll.

“In summary, there are 28 allegedly appointed persons whose posts were not advertised. To quantify this, these 28 persons would cost the municipality over R3,620,000 per annum in basic salaries only,” Makubu said.

He added that this was deemed as irregular expenditure as the appointments were irregular.

Democratic Alliance (DA) wants the appointments reversed

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the area is also calling for urgent action to reverse the fraudulent appointments.

Diphapang Mofokeng, the party’s councillor at Nketoana, stated that the DA would write to the municipal manager to call for an investigation.

Mofokeng noted that apart from more people being appointed than the number of posts advertised, some were also appointed despite not attending any formal interviews.

“In some cases, everyone who attended an interview was hired, while it also emerged that some of the interview panellists were related to the candidates they were assessing,” Mofokeng noted.

With the wage bill expected to balloon and its revenue collection only at 30%, the municipality may soon be unable to pay its employees. Mofokeng noted that this could be as soon as June 2025.

Corruption at municipalities is not new to South Africa. In February 2025, the KwaDukuza Local Municipality confirmed that R37 million was missing from the bank account.

In April 2025, two Emalahleni Local Municipality Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) were arrested for accepting a R20,000 bribe.

South Africans share their thoughts

The news drew mixed reactions from social media users, with some surprised by the blatant irregularities, while others joked that the municipality was fighting unemployment.

Maditse Rantshonyane joked:

“Bad things are happening in South Africa.”

Sweetone Mathangahle stated:

“That's taking us for granted. The guts of an elephant.”

Themba Hadebe asked:

“Do these people still have functional heads or what?”

Sibusiso Mbuy'seni Nkosi said:

“But he is fighting unemployment. The community needs to protect this gentleman.”

Moloantoa Kgopa added:

“That's what happens when you put an unqualified person as a Municipal Manager.”

Teboho Metsing noted:

“Corruption and mismanagement are getting worse in municipalities every day.”

Keitumetse Donald Bokaba joked:

“Haibo, he’s fighting unemployment mos.”

Public Protector finds corrupt hiring at municipality

In a related article, the Public Protector found cases of illegal hiring processes conducted at the Bushbuckridge Municipality in Mpumalanga.

Briefly News reported that Kholeka Gcaleka found that a panel of six people appointed candidates who didn't have the required qualifications.

South Africans were not surprised by the findings, with many blaming the African National Congress (ANC) for the problem.

Source: Briefly News