The newly released local government audit outcomes for 2022/23 confirms that residents of Northern Cape municipalities still bear the brunt of municipal mismanagement as service delivery continues to suffer under crumbling administrations.
Ratepayers had to cough up R432.73 million for staff in municipal finance units in the province, but 25 municipalities still spent an additional R127.05 million just on financial reporting consultants who were brought in to do these officials’ jobs. Municipalities in the John Taolo Gaetsewe district alone are responsible for nearly 60% of this bill, as the three local municipalities wasted R70.173 million on the consultants with the district spending another R4.96 million.
But while residents were effectively forced to pay twice for the same tasks to be done, there was no real improvement in tangible service delivery. Only 6 municipalities could submit credible financial statements while 3 municipalities have not submitted at all and fewer municipalities received clean audits than the year before.
Neither residents nor municipalities can afford this duplication of costs. The Auditor-General found that 65% of municipalities in the Northern Cape do not have enough cash on hand to cover operating costs, even for just one month. This often creates an excuse for administrations to direct funding from grants, intended for critical services and infrastructure, to cover operational costs like salaries instead.
Members of the Democratic Alliance will continue to interrogate departments on their municipal support strategies during this week’s tabling of departmental budget plans.