Civil rights organisation AfriForum has filed an application in the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela to compel the Msukaligwa Local Municipality and the provincial government to fulfil their statutory duties and restore essential services to residents in Ermelo and surrounding towns.

The application, brought as a structural interdict, follows what AfriForum describes as the municipality’s ongoing failure to deliver services in line with constitutional obligations. Provincial intervention under Section 139(5) — which allows a province to take control of a municipality’s financial and administrative management when it fails to meet its responsibilities — has been in place since October 2018, but AfriForum argues that the measure has not produced meaningful improvements.