issues relating to land demarcation, political candidates, or employer disputes with local government's service delivery mandate. When violent, protests may impinge on freedom of movement or property of others. Some of South Africa's municipalities are drowning in debt due to corruption and lack of skills, and by 2020 a significant proportion found themselves financially and logistically stressed by the pandemic. Municipalities often employ unqualified personnel who are unable to deliver proper financial and performance governance, which in addition leads to fraud, irregular expenditure (R30 billion in 2017, and R25 billion in 2018) and consequence-free misconduct. Only a fraction (14% in 2017, 8% in 2018) of municipalities submit clean annual audits to the Auditor-General, and implementation of the AG's recommendations has been lax. By 2018, 45% of municipalities have not implemented all procedures for reporting and investigating transgressions or fraud, while 74% were found to insufficiently follow up on such allegations. The late Kimi Makwetu suggested holding employees individually accountable, treating recommendations as binding and issuing a certificate of debt to guilty parties. In 2022 it was revealed that almost all municipalities have aging and dysfunctional water infrastructure. The Department of Water and Sanitation stated that poor maintenance and operations caused an average 40% (26%-60%) of water to be lost before it reached end users. As of 2020, municipalities owed South Africa's Water Boards a total of R12 billion, and a culture of non-payment had taken hold. They had also accumulated debt of R46.1 billion (R31 billion overdue) with Eskom. Emfuleni Municipality's unserviced debt with Eskom (over R2.3 billion by 2020) and Rand Water (some R1,1 billion) prevented it from providing a reliable power and water supply, which affected its ability to collect levies and taxes. A 2018 High Court judgment allowed Eskom to seize R645 million worth of Emfuleni's fixed assets due to non-payment for electricity. Lekwa Municipality has been taken to court by businesses around Standerton for failing to provide clean and sufficient water and electricity. These service interruptions were due to its soaring debt to Eskom (R1.1 billion by 2020), and its non-payment for services provided by the Department of Water and Sanitation. In 2018 VBS Bank collapsed, affecting the deposits of 14 municipalities. These deposits, which were all illegal in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), included a R245 million deposit by Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality, and a R161 million deposit by Giyani Municipality. Notes and