Limpopo -
Limpopo has established a provincial clean-audit steering committee to help improve municipalities’ financial systems.
This was announced on Tuesday by Premier Stan Mathabatha, who outlined the province’s state of service delivery report before a briefing with the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Polokwane.
He said the Co-operative Governance Department, which oversees local government, had been instructed to conduct a diagnostic assessment of municipalities.
Municipalities would submit municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) plans to the department regularly, he said.
The province’s intervention comes as municipalities struggle to spend the MIG funds meant for provision of services such as water and roads amid a vast backlog.
A total of R538 127 000 of MIG funds was returned to the National Treasury in the past financial year because municipalities failed to spend it.
This was stated by Co-operative Governance MEC Makoma Makhurupetje at the same briefing.
The latest audit report by the auditor-general depicted a grim picture about the state of local government in the province.
None of 25 local and five district municipalities got a clean audit opinion for the 2012-13 financial year.
Twelve of them, including Polokwane, the largest council in the province in terms of budget allocations, received disclaimers or adverse audit opinions.
Molemole and Mogalakwena local municipalities were being undermined by political instability, according to a document presented to the NCOP briefing by a senior manager in the auditor-general’s office, Thabo Mogano.
Makhurupetje said municipal manager posts in six councils remained vacant and that five for chief financial officers were yet to be filled.
She cited poor record-keeping, failure to implement audit remedial plans and a lack of leadership as some factors leading to negative audit outcomes.
The MEC said the department did not recognise the reappointment of William Kekana as municipal manager of Mogalakwena.
Kekana, newly appointed chief financial officer and manager for planning at Mogalakwena, requires the MEC’s “concurrence” before his appointment becomes valid.
EFF MPL Jossey Buthane said the situation in municipalities was hopeless, “with hopeless people” in charge.
He said council officials did not deserve the salaries they get, given the appalling state of affairs in municipalities.
“The money they get, they don’t deserve it, it’s tantamount to stealing. Thieves!” said Buthane.
He suggested that all municipalities be placed under provincial administration in terms of section 139 of the constitution.
But his proposal was shot down by ANC chief whip in the legislature Falaza Mdaka and ANC MPL Elias Nong.
Mdaka cautioned against making generalisations, saying: “This thing of one size fits all doesn’t work here.”
The Star