They include the former Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Finance, Mr Des van Rooyen.
An attorney and conveyancer from the town, Ms Charmarié Peché-Kroeze, raised this issue at the community meeting in Fochville on 12 May.
The municipality currently owes an estate agent rent for 6 Beerster Street. The person living in the house is the former wife of one of the displaced councillors.
The councillor has since passed away. According to the lawyers handling the case, the wife gets a salary from the municipality as she works in the municipal traffic department.
The municipality owed R273,442 in rent from 1 July 2018 to 1 July 2021 but paid R300,000 to the estate agent after the matter was concluded in court on 5 November 2021 in favour of the estate agent. However, the municipality still owes R19,141 and a warrant will be obtained if the money is not paid this week.
Meanwhile, the municipality has not paid the rent for the past five months.
Merafong has been paying the rent for this house since 2005.
In a similar matter, the municipality still owes R19,000 in legal costs after not paying the rent for 22 Van der Stel Street.
As far as could be determined, a former councillor and his family live in this house.
The municipality paid the estate agent R200,000 after a court judgment was granted for the outstanding rental fees of R16,270. The municipality has been renting the property since 2017.
Merafong has not signed the rental agreements for either of the houses.
“The municipality is wasting a lot of money in this way.
“They have paid so much rental that they could just as well have bought the properties,” Peché-Kroeze said during the meeting.
As far as could be determined, these are not the only houses the municipality is renting for huge amounts in this way.
The family of the former Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Finance, Mr Des van Rooyen, is using one of the other rental houses.
The municipality acknowledged this fact in answering the Herald’s questions on the matter on Tuesday.
“The municipality is busy finalising the displaced councillors’ issue. The executive mayor committed to providing progress reports.
Des van Rooyen’s family is one of those displaced; their house was also burnt and destroyed during the 2005 demarcation riots.
The properties are 22 van der Stel Carletonville, 6 Beester Carletonville and 13 Sommerson, Potchefstroom Street Fochville,” the municipal spokesperson answered.
In her feedback during the community meeting in Fochville, the executive mayor, Ms Nozuko Best, also promised to sort the matter out “before the end of the year”.
