Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has emphasised the critical need to up-skill staff in the country’s most under-performing municipalities.
This follows the release of a Auditor-General report that exposed R24 billion in unauthorised spending and widespread mismanagement across the country’s municipalities.
The 2022/2023 audit outcomes painted a bleak picture of municipal governance, revealing a regression in the management of municipal finances.
The report highlighted over R7 billion in fruitless and wasteful expenditure, alongside severe neglect of infrastructure, which has led to significant water and electricity losses.
In a recent interview with Newzroom Afrika, Hlabisa expressed his concerns about the audit results, noting that only one out of eight metros managed to achieve a clean audit, and just 34 out of approximately 257 municipalities met the standard.
“It is not impressing that only one metro got a clean audit,” Hlabisa said, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Hlabisa stressed that improving the state of municipalities is impossible without competent management.
To address the dysfunctionality, he announced a 21-day turnaround plan for the worst-performing municipalities, aimed at rectifying the issues highlighted in the audit.
‘’Our then crucial plan must introduce a culture of good governance,’’ he said, adding the importance of support and accountability in achieving meaningful change.
‘’Our municipalities must be supported and accountability must be instituted,’’ Hlabisa said.
The minister also said that the department would ensure that distressed municipalities fully utilise their budgets to prevent funds from being returned to the National Treasury.
In addition, he pointed to the need to reassess the allocation of disaster grants across all municipalities.
“We want to zone in on these municipalities; who are the MMs (municipal managers), and what qualifications do they own? Who are the CEOs, director of technical services, and director of corporate services? These are key sections of the municipality’s performance,” Hlabisa asked.
“Do they have suitable qualifications? Because whatever turn-around plan we come up with, if people on the ground do not have sufficient competency, it will not work,” he said.
Politics
