Lentswe, Klerksdorp - Matlosana Executive Mayor Fikile Mahlophe has attributed the decision to stop distributing free paraffin to indigent communities to a council resolution, not a unilateral decision on his part. He made this statement before the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Monday January 12 after being subpoenaed to account for the issue.
The hearing was convened after a formal complaint was lodged with the SAHRC in September last year by affected communities. The Commission noted that the subpoena was necessary after Mayor Mahlophe failed to respond to their inquiries over nearly three months.
The complaint, lodged by Xolani Tshabalala, alleged that qualifying indigent households in unelectrified areas - including Jacaranda, Khuma, Tigane, Sunnyside, Kanana, and Jouberton - stopped receiving free paraffin shortly after Mahlophe assumed office in 2024.
Before the commission, Mahlophe argued that the council had deemed the program financially unsustainable and a safety risk. “Upon my appointment, there were several issues we looked into broadly around the sustainability of services,” he testified. “Council took a decision that it is not sustainable for the municipality to provide alternative energy in the form of paraffin from a financial point of view, as well as other aspects, including safety.”
He further cited concerns about alleged corruption and abuse of the system, stating, “There were also allegations of corruption, and some officials were arrested in relation to the abuse of the provision.”
According to the Mayor, the Auditor-General had also flagged the paraffin provision as a “material irregularity” that was pushing the financially struggling municipality deeper into crisis. As a permanent solution, Mahlophe stated that the city is currently in the process of electrifying the affected areas.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Matlosana, which welcomed the SAHRC’s intervention, maintains that the municipality’s failure to supply free paraffin has had a “direct and devastating impact” on the city’s poorest residents. Cllr Gerhard Strydom argues that this has deprived vulnerable families, who lack access to electricity, of the basic ability to safely prepare food, forcing them to use dangerous open wood fires.
In a statement this week, he also highlighted unresolved allegations from May 2025 regarding unauthorised expenditure and the bypassing of supply chain management processes related to the same paraffin issue. According to the DA, a final report from an investigating committee, submitted to the Speaker of Council on July 22, 2025, has still not been tabled before the Council. The DA claims this shows the ANC majority “continues to shield its own from accountability.”
The SAHRC will now use the testimony from the hearing to establish the facts, assess whether constitutional and human rights obligations were violated, and determine if any remedial action is necessary.
