Cape Town - The DA-run City of Cape Town has incurred R47 million in irregular spending, topping the list of three municipalities in the province that have together spent R173 million in 2016/17 without following the legal prescript.
The irregular expenditure in the Western Cape has decreased by R1m from 2015/16 when it was R174m, but the auditor-general (AG) pointed to the City’s weaknesses in consequence management and revenue management and political instability in smaller municipalities. The AG’s business executive in the Western Cape, Sharonne Adams, this week released the local government audit results indicating a regression in the audit outcomes of municipalities in the province compared to 2015/16.
The main contributors to irregular expenditure were the City of Cape Town (R47m), (ANC/KDF-run) Beaufort West (R36m) and (DA) Eden District (R32m). And R163m of the total irregular expenditure amount related to non-compliance with supply chain management (SCM) regulations.
Adams said 98% of the SCM-related irregular expenditure involved current year transgressions that can be isolated to unjustifiable deviations, the extension of contracts without the necessary approvals, and non-compliance with local content prescripts.
“The overall regression can be attributed to some municipalities not taking our messages and recommendations seriously as well as not demonstrating the required levels of accountability and governance. Three municipalities lost their clean audit status - the City of Cape Town, Bitou and Eden District. This was due to material non-compliance with SCM regulations at all three municipalities, irregular expenditure not being prevented at Bitou, and weaknesses in consequence management and revenue management at the City of Cape Town.”
She said her 2015/16 recommendations to improve accountability and audit outcomes did not receive the necessary attention in all instances.
“This is evidenced by the findings from our audits that included attention not being paid to audit action plans, poor performance planning and budgeting, the lack of improvement in the status of internal control, and inadequate assurance provided by the different role-players in local government.”
Adams said non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act, in particular SCM regulations, continued to be one of the main obstacles in the province.
Outgoing mayor Patricia de Lille admitted there were issues in the City administration. “Once there is a report of this nature, the municipal accounts committee has to investigate this,” she said.
@JasonFelix