The administrator at Lekwa local municipality in Mpumalanga, Johann Mettler, says it will take at least three years to turn around the collapsed municipality. 

Mettler, who was deployed in Standerton to rescue the sinking town, said National Treasury had recently published a draft municipal financial recovery plan for the town.

The winds of discontent are blowing through the community of Standerton and neighbouring townships over poor service delivery ahead of municipal elections next month.

The voter dissatisfaction is borne out of a string of problems including collapsed infrastructure, electricity blackouts, intermittent water cuts, deterioration of roads and sewage spillages that have imprisoned residents in their homes.

Some business owners in Standerton are contemplating selling their assets and leaving the town owing to the collapse of the local municipality which has seen them struggle with billing and broken infrastructure.

Some businesses that contribute to the growth of the local economy through creating jobs have in fact been shut already because of the problems faced by the town.

Smaller opposition parties in Standerton are hoping to capitalise on the ANC's failures that led to the collapse of the Lekwa local municipality to win votes in next month's local government elections.

Wilma Venter, a candidate of the Freedom Front Plus in Standerton, said her party has taken the mandate to restore the dignity of the town by fighting for decent service delivery for the community.

A group of independent candidates and community structures in Standerton, Mpumalanga, have banded together to form a new civic organisation to “rescue” the area via the upcoming municipal elections. 

The group is made of Lekwa Community Forum and some independent councillors who say they are tired of empty promises by political parties to bring change in their lives.