31/08/2026
DA's Mangaung Court action underway, for dignified housing
by Werner Pretorius MPL - DA Mangaung Mayoral Candidate
Date: 31 August 2026
Release: Immediate
The DA in Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality will return to the High Court on 31 August 2026, where our application for leave to appeal in the Lourierpark matter will be heard. We will use this process to continue defending lawful development and promoting human dignity through access to reliable basic services and proper planning for all residents affected by the ANC-led Metro’s failure to govern responsibly.
As a deflection strategy to draw attention away from years of failure by the ANC-led Mangaung Metro to provide access to adequate housing, the DA’s efforts to ensure that housing standards prescribed by our Country’s Constitution are upheld have been falsely described as an obstacle to providing housing. The DA has been vindicated, as shown by what has subsequently happened in Lourier Park. People were settled on vacant land with very limited basic services.
The DA has never opposed access to adequate housing. In fact, the DA is totally opposed to the exploitation of the massive need for access to housing that comes from offering access to vacant land as opposed to access to housing founded on reliable infrastructure that provides:
• Access to clean running water;
• The dignity of proper sanitation;
• Protection from flooding that destroys homes and personal belongings;
• Proper access via constructed roads for residents, emergency services, waste removal and law enforcement;
• Lighting to ensure road safety and deter crime.
The DA’s case aims to achieve the above for the residents of Lourier Park and those living in Mangaung’s 57 informal settlements, where access to basic services has been denied for decades.
Years of ANC failure to plan, budget, upgrade informal settlements, maintain infrastructure and deliver reliable basic services have created massive housing backlogs across Mangaung. Over the past four years, the ANC-led Mangaung has underspent a whopping R340 million on the Informal Settlement Upgrading Grant.
The DA will continue demanding full transparency from the Executive Mayor and the administration. Residents must be told when services will be installed, how they will be funded, whether all approvals are in place, how beneficiaries were selected, and what measures will be taken to address sanitation, waste, stormwater, roads and safety.
Mangaung needs an accountable government that delivers homes with services lawfully and transparently. The DA will continue this fight in court, in council and in communities, because residents deserve dignified access to housing.
