Cogta and Scopa's oversight visit puts KZN municipalities under scrutiny
Public Accountability
The oversight visit follows a briefing by the AGSA on the 2023–2024 local government audit outcomes, which highlighted a persistent trend of poor audit results across municipalities.
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THE Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) will conduct a joint oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) from January 27 to 30, 2026, to engage with municipalities that have been identified by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) as distressed or dysfunctional.
The oversight visit follows a briefing by the AGSA on the 2023–2024 local government audit outcomes, which highlighted a persistent trend of poor audit results across municipalities. According to the AGSA, only 41 municipalities (16%) achieved clean audits.
While 59 municipalities have shown improvement in their audit outcomes since the 2020–21 financial year, 40 municipalities have experienced a regression. In addition, 13 municipalities failed to submit their financial statements and performance reports for auditing by the legislated deadline.
During the oversight visit, the committees will also receive presentations from national and provincial AGSA representatives.
The visit will provide the committees with an opportunity to ascertain the underlying challenges contributing to poor audit outcomes and governance failures; assess the effectiveness of existing interventions and support measures; engage with provincial leadership on their role in enforcing accountability; and explore how intergovernmental relations structures can be strengthened to support municipalities in addressing challenges and improving service delivery to communities.
On January 27, the committees will receive briefings from provincial leadership, including the Premier, Thami Ntuli, the Cogta MEC and the Finance MEC. This will be followed by engagements with executive mayors, speakers, municipal managers, and chief financial officers from the following municipalities:
- Mandeni Local Municipality
- Mpofana Local Municipality
- Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality
- Umzumbe Local Municipality
- eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
On January 28, the committee will engage with executive mayors, Speakers, municipal managers, and chief financial officers from:
- Ugu District Municipality
- Amajuba District Municipality
- Newcastle Local Municipality
- uThukela District Municipality
- Umkhanyakude District Municipality
- Mtubatuba Local Municipality
- Umzinyathi District Municipality
On January 29, engagements will be held with:
- Endumeni Local Municipality
- Nongoma Local Municipality
- Nquthu Local Municipality
- Msunduzi Local Municipality
- Mhlathuze Local Municipality
- Impendle Local Municipality
And on January 30, the committee will conclude the oversight visit with engagements with the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma District Municipality and traditional leadership.