By Ragheema Mclean
The Auditor-General’s latest findings reveal a bleak state of affairs within South Africa’s local government. Out of 257 municipalities, only 34 achieved clean audits, reflecting little to no improvement since the 2021 local government elections.
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke released the 2022-23 consolidated report on local government audit outcomes on Tuesday, noting a lack of meaningful progress over the first two years of the current term.
Speaking on VOC Breakfast, Dr. TK Pooe, lecturer at the WITS School of Governance and Public Policy said the findings highlighted a myriad of issues within the country’s metros.
“This has been a trend for the last five to six years.”
“The shock for me is that they [government] know this information, but the right interventions are not taking place, and that is a problem. It’s a key question of management, for example: can you account for the money allocated and show what has been done with it? That speaks to the financial management and leadership within our municipalities.”
He further criticized the current structure of local governance noting that many of the municipalities should not be stand alone metros.
“We have over 200 municipalities, and many of them should not be standalone entities. Government has been avoiding this conversation. We must be honest and ask if we really need so many municipalities or if we need to consolidate them, bringing in the best skills and paying for those skills to achieve proper financial management.”
He said the report’s findings highlight ongoing issues with financial accountability and management within local government, raising concerns over the ability of municipalities to effectively serve their communities.
Listen to the full interview below:
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Photo: @SAgovnews/X
