The KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Department has deployed ministerial representatives to intervene in municipalities that are consistently receiving poor audit outcomes from the Auditor-General (AG).
According to KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, eight municipalities, including Msunduzi, Mpofana, Inkosi Langalibalele, Mtubatuba, Abaqulusi Local Municipality, uThukela, uMzinyathi and uMkhanyakude District Municipality are currently under intervention.
Dube-Ncube said challenges include consistently poor audit outcomes, as identified by the AG, the inadequate utilisation of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and other grants from provincial and national Treasury, financial difficulties, maladministration, approval of unfunded budgets and political instability.
“Each time the province intervenes, it has carefully considered the state of the municipality and underperformance that justifies placement of these municipalities under Section 139(1),” Dube-Ncube said on Wednesday.
The provincial government will continue, through COGTA, provincial Treasury and all provincial departments, to provide the necessary support to the municipalities and ensure improvement in accordance with the provincial government's aspirations.
While these interventions follow a standardised approach, the Premier acknowledged that each municipality faces unique challenges, which must be addressed accordingly.
“We will not be intimidated, and we expect the ministerial representatives to implement consequence management resulting from Section 106 investigations within three months of completion of the reports.
“In turn, the performance of ministerial representatives will be assessed by the MEC of COGTA within two months, and appointments will be terminated in case of underperformance,” the Premier said.
She said the provincial government remains fully committed to ensuring the proper functioning of local government, stating that “when local government fails, all of government fails, because local government is the touchstone of service delivery".
“We cannot allow illegal and unconstitutional decisions to bar interventions in municipalities by the province on grounds that have little to do with service delivery to the people of KwaZulu-Natal,” Dube-Ncube said.
Proper oversight for affected municipalities
The Premier has also called on the affected municipalities, led by the mayors, to provide proper leadership and oversight to ensure that corrective measures are implemented to resolve audit issues and prevent recurrence.
Dube-Ncube, together with the COGTA MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, held a meeting with the top leadership of local and district municipalities that have been identified by the AG as underperforming and received negative reports.
The municipalities, including uThukela, Ulundi, Emadlangeni, Mtubatuba, Msunduzi, Endumeni, Harry Gwala, Umkhanyakude, Mpofana, Nquthu, Umzinyathi, Inkosi Langalibalele, and Amajuba District Municipalities received negative reports during the 2021/2022 financial year.
Dube-Ncube said some of these municipalities are already subject to interventions under Section 139(1) of the Constitution.
“Some of them, according to the latest report of the AG, presented on 31 May 2023, not only received negative reports but may have undergone regression in critical areas. We cannot allow this situation to deteriorate any further than what it is already,” Dube-Ncube said.
The Premier said at the meeting, the mayors provided turnaround plans to address the negative audit outcomes, and their responses to the Audit Action Plan, material irregularities, addressing unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The mayors also presented their preparedness for the 2023 audit and provided the latest financial position of the municipalities.
This included the June 2023 expenditure position on the infrastructure and disaster relief conditional grants, and the 2023/24 budget funding status.
While acknowledging signs of recovery, Dube-Ncube said the provincial government is extremely worried that the general picture that is emerging is one of “generalised weakness in the administration of some of these municipalities”.
She warned that the provincial government will not be barred from municipalities to conduct the work of government or to meet with communities. – SAnews.gov.za
