Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed concern over the low number of municipalities achieving clean audits in the Auditor-General’s Municipal Audit Outcomes for 2021/22.
Out of 257 municipalities, only 38 obtained clean audits, with only two of the eight metros achieving the same result.
“It is worrying that only 38 out of 257 municipalities – and only two out of the eight metros – achieved clean audits. While clean audits are not the only indicator of good service delivery, there is a clear correlation between achieving good audit outcomes and improving services to communities.
“Local government provides the infrastructure and services that help improve people’s livelihoods. All spheres of government must therefore work together to ensure that municipalities are able to fulfil their responsibilities,” Ramaphosa said in his weekly newsletter.
Ramaphosa also addressed the challenges facing local government in South Africa, emphasising that the lives of citizens could only improve if these challenges were addressed.
He also called on citizens to play their part by paying for services.
It is imperative that municipalities must have credible, sustainable and well-managed revenue collection programmes that apply fair and equitable standards to all customers. Citizens should play their part by paying for services. All businesses and government departments must pay… pic.twitter.com/XkoMQYoXYv
— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? (@CyrilRamaphosa) June 5, 2023
“In the last year, around 88 municipalities failed to spend at least 10% of their Municipal Infrastructure Grant, which is supposed to be used for eradicating infrastructure backlogs. Another challenge is that money that is not allocated for a specific purpose is often misspent.
“A number of municipalities state that they do not have sufficient funds to implement programmes and projects. This is often the case because they are not able to collect revenue for key services like water and electricity.
“It is imperative that municipalities must have credible, sustainable and well-managed revenue collection programmes that apply fair and equitable standards to all customers. Citizens should play their part by paying for services. All businesses and government departments must pay outstanding debt to municipalities” the president said.
Ramaphosa recently convened the Presidential Coordinating Council to urgently review the funding model for municipalities, aiming to provide them with sufficient resources.
He emphasised the need for credible, sustainable, and well-managed revenue collection programmes in municipalities to ensure the equitable distribution of services.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
