Home

Government should identify areas where municipalities waste money

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Polokwane Mayor and SALGA member Thembi Nkadimeng says government should urgently identify areas where municipalities are wasting money.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) says it must be properly consulted before new cost cutting measures are implemented.

Last week, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma both said municipalities needed to save money.

Earlier in June, the Municipal Cost Containment Regulations were published in the government gazette by Mboweni and Dlamini-Zuma.

The regulations introduce a ceiling in terms of value of vehicles to be bought by municipalities, set threshold for purchasing air tickets limitation on international travel and hiring of vehicles.

Nkadimeng who is also a member of SALGA says municipalities are not necessarily wasting money on vehicles.

“To me a car is neither here nor there, except if it’s for safety for councillors. Consultants, financial or technical, why do we hire consultants? It’s because of the low grading of municipalities. Technical people don’t want to be in small municipalities because they are less paid. That’s where the problem is. We don’t waste R300 million on a car. You waste R300 million on a project,” says Nkadimeng.

Listen to the full interview below:

Watch a related video below:

Author

MOST READ