Despite paying for stands in 2018, Braam Fischer residents in the Free State battle bucket toilets, unreliable water and a bureaucratic maze, while Public Protector prepares to close their case.
Community members say they paid R5, 000 each, with proof of payment seen by Sunday World. The money was paid to Nketoana Local Municipality for a residential stand — a formal, serviced plot of land in a township-to-be. The residents spoke on condition of remaining anonymous.
This was in 2018. And the community was promised basic services like water and sanitation, roads and electricity. The residents are now considered as “illegal” occupants by the municipality, which says the settlement is not yet formally established.
No toilets, roads, refuse removal
They bought the sites on November 11 2018 as stated by the proof of payment. To date they use communal taps, Pit latrines and bucket systems. Their roads are not tarred, there is no refuse removal and no storm system infrastructure.
Established in 2018, the settlement accommodates a population of approximately 120 structures. And is estimated to have 480 people in informal dwellings.
Basic services are provided through communal standpipes, and residents rely on bucket toilets. Additionally, water is supplied to the settlement via communal tanks, ensuring that the community has access to necessary water resources.
A document from the Public Protector’s office has plunged the community into a new crisis of faith. A “Closing Report Discretionary Notice,” dated October 27 2025 and seen by Sunday World, reveals the Public Protector’s intention to dismiss their formal complaint. The complaint was lodged in November 2023. According to the Public Protector: there has been “no undue delay” by the municipality. And its conduct does not amount to maladministration.
Public Protector was only hope
For the Braam Fischer community, the notice feels like a final insult.
“Living in Braam fisher is challenging due to inadequate infrastructure and services. We rely on bucket toilets and communal taps, which can be unreliable and unhygienic. And also the real challenge is electricity as Eskom won’t electrify sites which are not registered. Also due to the Housing Development Agency (HDA) report stating that Braam Fischer is electrified. Yet we as residents don’t know how they come up with that [information],” the community stated.
The Public Protector’s 16-page report acknowledges some “basic services” are provided. It lists 39 communal taps and weekly bucket waste collection. But on the ground, residents describe a different reality — one of systemic failure and official detachment.
No title deeds, fears of evacuation linger
“Living in Braam Fischer can be challenging due to inadequate infrastructure,” says residents. The weekly collection is no guarantee. “Waste may not be collected on scheduled days, leading to accumulation and potential health hazards. In some instances, residents have to dig pits in their own yards to dispose of faeces.”
The residents are concerned that even though the public protector mentions communal taps to be sufficient for the community, they face water scarcity due to pressure from using small water pipes.
This situation, without proper roads, sewage, or title deeds — paralyses lives.
“This situation affects our ability to secure loans, run businesses, or feel secure in our homes,” say residents. “Even now, some residents are scared to build. What if they build only to find out there is a problem with the sites?”
Series of procedural failures
The Public Protector’s notice lays out a convoluted bureaucratic history that explains the delay. But for residents, it fails to justify it. It reveals that a company, Ermendo (Pty) Ltd, was appointed as far back as 2004 to establish the township. Work, including contour surveys and town planning, was about 70% complete by 2014. That was when it stalled due to municipal non-payment.
In 2023, the Free State Provincial Treasury warned the municipality that paying Ermendo to resume work without a fresh procurement process would constitute “irregular expenditure.” This contractual deadlock, born over a decade ago, is the very blockage preventing a new, multi-million rand intervention.
In 2024, the HDA drafted a detailed “Braam Fischer Informal Settlement Upgrading Plan”. It is a R33.8-million blueprint for full services. Its implementation, however, is explicitly conditional on the municipality terminating the defunct Emendo contract. A council item to resolve the outstanding R50,000 debt was deferred in May 2025.
Old contractor out, procurement stalling
The Public Protector’s analysis of this saga focuses on the fact that some administrative steps were taken. An old contractor was hired long ago, reports were written, and new engagements with the HDA and the Department of Human Settlements are underway. It concludes that the municipality is “striving within its… capacity” as required by the constitution.
For the people of Braam Fischer, “undue delay” is measured in the years their children have grown up without sanitation. In the R5,000 paid for a dream that remains a dusty plot. And in the parade of broken promises from officials.
“We have been having meetings with municipal management. And they have been giving us dates after dates,” say the residents.
“The current state of infrastructure suggests these promises haven’t been fulfilled.
“The HDA Report is not correct in that factor/regard only. The municipality is dealing with the matter on the basis that there is no electricity provision to individual informal sites in that area,” said Mr Mokete Nhlapo, Municipal Manager: Nketoana Local Municipality.
Municipality comes clean on saga
“The municipality has roped in the assistance of the Free State Provincial Department of Human Settlement by way of HDA, through its Township Upgrading Programme. Other stakeholders like the Office of the Surveyor-General will also be involved. The formalisation process also involves other structures. And this makes it difficult to provide a specific time for formalisation, save to state that the matter is currently receiving urgent attention.”
For now, the residents are left with their buckets, their long walks to the tap, and the grim realisation that their trust in the system may have been the most costly investment of all.
“The site is located near a formalised township and can easily be integrated into the greater township,” HDA document
The Nketoana Local Municipality holds ownership of the land in question, as confirmed by the title deed or deed web search report.
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