Some municipalities are on the verge of collapsing due to political interference in the administration and in the tender process by councillors. That is according to the Minister of Cooperative Governance Doctor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
She was one of the speakers during the Local Government Indaba in Durban. The gathering was attended by mayors, municipal managers, chief financial officers and representatives from Eskom.
Dlamini-Zuma has warned against political meddling in the tender processes and administration in municipalities. She says the interference is often to blame for the collapse in financial control and subsequently poor audit outcomes.
“There are municipalities that find themselves in distress due to failures of governance. We just need to strengthen intergovernmental relations, strengthen oversight and fight corruption, corruption just erodes the trust between people and government completely and we don’t really need to be rigging tenders, fraud, bribery, and nepotism.”
The Local Government Indaba comes at a time when there has been a decline in the number of municipalities that received clean and improved audit outcomes. Three municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal including uMkhanyakude district, Nquthu, and Inkosi Langalibalele recently received a disclaimer audit outcome from the Auditor-General.
Premier Sihle Zikalala says the provincial government has tasked the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance to conduct a skills audit across all municipalities.
“We are quite disappointed because these have been municipalities that we have been trying to assist but some of them have been resisting the support that we have been given, but they are not improving and that is why we are very concerned. We are going to discuss with those municipalities one by one to ensure that the plans we are putting in place are implemented.”
Revenue collection
Mayor of eThekwini Metro, Mxolisi Kaunda says municipalities have over three years been facing a huge decline in revenue collection. He says this is due to the outbreak of COVID-19, last year’s July civil unrest, and subsequently the recent deadly floods.
“The disasters we have faced over the past three years including COVID-19, July unrest, and the recent floods have decimated the economies of our municipalities. In this regard, part of our discussions must focus on how we are going to assist industries that were hardest hit and help create much-needed employment and economic opportunities so that these industries can recover and attract new investments.”
UMhlathuze Municipality in Richards Bay is one of the three municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal that recently received clean audit outcomes from the Auditor-General.
Mayor Xolani Ngwezi believes clean audits must also translate to improved service delivery.
“We must balance between the clean audit opinion and also the services which we deliver to the people and we commit to balancing that from this financial year. We will make sure that we continue maintaining a clean audit.”
Minister Dlamini- Zuma has emphasised the importance of appointing qualified individuals to improve the financial performance of municipalities.
Local Government Indaba 5 July proceedings:
