Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole Moloi will meet with officials from the province’s municipalities on Tuesday to discuss their audit outcomes.
The meeting, set for Durban, will involve local and district municipalities, and comes after a number of municipalities performed badly, according to Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke’s recent report in which she cited unreliable data in some municipalities, difficulty in paying Eskom and Umgeni Water and the overpaying of consultants as some of the challenges facing KZN municipalities.
In a statement issued on Monday, the provincial government expressed concern that while there had been attempts to assist municipalities, the local government sphere continued to struggle.
“Despite intervention in terms of Section 139 of the Constitution some municipalities have received unfavourable reports according to the latest review by the auditor-general. Instead of improving, some have suffered among others weakened administration, including the failure to appoint municipal managers, chief financial officers, non-functioning audit committees and even failed to approve budgets,” said the statement.
It further noted that there had been regressions recorded in audit outcomes ranging from qualified to disclaimer opinions from the AG. At the start of the current term of government in 2019, then premier Sihle Zikalala said local government would be its focal point, including improving on delivery of services and financial performance and audit outcomes, and Tuesday’s meeting is seen as part of this commitment.