KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala says decisive action will be taken against municipalities that continue to get poor audit outcomes.
Zikalala was speaking during the Cabinet Lekgotla meeting in Durban. Msunduzi, uThukela and uMzinyathi are some of the municipalities that are struggling financially which in turn is leading to poor service delivery.
“When people elect councillors they elect them with an expectation that they will serve them and it is not expected that over time our municipalities will have someone to manage them through interventions from CoGTA. If municipalities are not rising to the occasion, decisive action will need to be taken on those, especially those that have stayed under administration for many years. It cannot be that we keen to put municipalities under administration with less improvement.”
Four officials from Premier’s office implicated in fraud
Four officials from the KwaZulu-Natal Premier’s office appeared in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court in October on charges of fraud and corruption amounting to R20 million in connection with catering tenders.
Among them was the chief financial officer in the Premier’s office, Ziphathe Cibane.
The four officials appeared in court together with a business owner in July.
It is alleged the officials received kickbacks to disregard procedures in awarding tenders.
More people are expected to join the five accused in the dock.
