As we celebrated the life of one of SA greatest cultural ambassadors last week, Joseph Shabalala, the BBC focused on a South African town in the Free State - Harrismith.

It is always good to see the best of your country being showcased on global platforms. It was a proud moment to see Christiane Amanpour close her show by celebrating Shabalala's life on CNN last week.

What the BBC found in Harrismith is heart-breaking. It found a once beautiful town in a state of ruin. The ANC thugs have looted public money until the town literally collapsed.

The BBC's report was titled "We're just fixing our town." These are the words of a young black resident, Sam Twala, who told the world the residents of Harrismith are tired of burning tyres, and protesting; they have decided to fix their own town.

When there is a burst pipe, Twala and a group of volunteers go around asking for money from local business people, to fix the pipe themselves.

The story of Harrismith is a microcosm of the whole province of the Free State, and of other municipalities elsewhere.

As you read this column, the capital city of the Free State, Bloemfontein, is under administration.

Think of Cape Town, the capital city of the Western Cape, being under administration, or Johannesburg in Gauteng, or Polokwane in Limpopo, and so on.

If things are not working in the capital Bloemfontein, how could they work in small towns such as Harrismith?