IN A damning exposé of systemic dysfunction within South Africa’s municipalities, the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) painted a bleak picture during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

The session, chaired by Rise Mzansi’s Songezo Zibi, revealed that despite marginal improvements in the submission and audit conclusion rates for municipal annual financial statements — up from 91% to 95% — the underlying issues remain catastrophic.

The Free State emerged as a particularly troubled province, with persistent delays in submitting financial statements. Meanwhile, provinces such as the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) boasted 100% compliance. However, this veneer of success belied deeper cracks in governance.

Head of National Audit at AGSA, Bongi Ngoma, said bluntly: “The non-submission of annual financial statements has an impact on financial accountability, governance, and service delivery.” She cited common culprits such as “senior management vacancies, financial system failures, asset management issues, incomplete supporting documentation, labour unrest, and audit disputes”.

The consequences are dire. Delayed audits undermine municipalities’ abilities to plan, budget, and deliver essential services effectively. This failure not only erodes public trust but also weakens oversight mechanisms, creating fertile ground for corruption.

Head of Portfolio Regularity Audit at AGSA, Sharonne Adams, brought to the fore instability in leadership, saying: “There would either be an accounting officer who had been there for only a short time, or a new accounting officer had been appointed… These were some of the things that had an impact on the engagements.”

In stark terms, Zibi underscored the urgency: “If municipalities fail, people feel it immediately… It is not a situation where one would say something may or may not go wrong — if a municipality fails, something will go wrong.” The chairperson pointedly noted that some residents lived directly under the shadow of these failing systems.

Most alarming is the culture of condonation. The EFF’s Veronica Mente-Nkuna passionately criticised the status quo, asserting: “There should not be a culture where people are allowed to get away with murder.” She called out municipalities for using grant funding irresponsibly, often diverting funds meant for infrastructure into operational costs. “A lot of money is lost — and the municipal manager or the chief financial officer had left,” she lamented. Despite issuing material irregularities, little action seems forthcoming against responsible parties.

Adams corroborated these concerns, explaining that unauthorised expenditures were frequently written off without adequate investigation. “Section 32(2) of the MFMA articulated that the Municipal Council must investigate before something is written off,” she said. Yet, in practice, insufficient investigations allow misconduct to persist unchecked.

Specific cases illustrate the depth of the crisis. Laingsburg Local Municipality in the Western Cape received an adverse opinion due to persistent skills shortages and ineffective interventions. Similarly, Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng remains mired in controversy despite being under Section 139 intervention.

Mente-Nkuna remarked scathingly, “[Emfuleni] did not spend money, but ended up getting a better audit because the balance sheet was balancing… Taking money from people that was meant for service delivery and giving it back to the National Treasury is the worst form of treason.”

Meanwhile, Thaba Chweu Local Municipality in Mpumalanga epitomises negligence. Named repeatedly for non-submission of financial statements and failure to pay state-owned power utility, Eskom, its plight underscores endemic mismanagement. Ngoma confirmed: “Material irregularities were also issued where the grants had not been spent for the intended purpose.”

The ANC’s Ntando Maduna advocated for a shift in focus towards moral regeneration, urging scrutiny beyond politicians to include administrators complicit in corrupt practices. “It has always been easy to just push the blame onto politicians,” he said. “However, the politicians did not know the tenders.”

His call for introspection resonated with the MK Party’s Khayelihle Madlala, who stressed: “We need a radical approach to this matter, which has to be measurable within a space of a year.”

Both echoed sentiments expressed earlier by the DA’s Patrick Atkinson, who proposed amending legislation to empower AGSA to overturn municipal council decisions condoning illegal actions. “Evil people could get away with bad deeds,” he said, advocating for stronger legislative teeth akin to corporate governance frameworks.

The ANC’s Tintswalo Bila commended KZN and the Eastern Cape for maintaining 100% submission rates but questioned why other provinces lagged behind. The ANC’s Gijimani Skosana highlighted the failure of internal audit and audit committees, saying: “These challenges would not have arisen if these committees were doing their work properly as expected.”

Skosana further queried the lack of capacitation for Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs), noting that even full-time chairpersons failed to ensure timely submissions.

Adams elaborated on the AGSA’s proactive measures, such as deliberately visiting municipalities in the disclaimer zone, especially in the Free State, to engage with internal auditors, audit committees, and MPAC chairs. Despite these efforts, capacitation challenges persisted, exacerbated by vacancies crippling assurance functions.

The chairperson emphasised the need for decisive action. “People are elected to make decisions and account for those decisions,” he reminded members. Urging collaboration across governmental tiers, Zibi said: “Ultimately, it is the elected representatives who must do their work, and this applies to the committee.”

With elections on the horizon and public patience wearing thin, the clock ticks loudly for the country’s municipalities. Whether meaningful reform materialises before another cycle of despair unfolds remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: the nation demands answers — and accountability — from those entrusted with its future.

Ngoma welcomed comments on capacitating various role players in the ecosystem so duties could be discharged effectively. She agreed with Maduna about ethics, referencing the Professionalisation Act, which emphasises skills, competencies, and institutional integrity.

The DA's Farhat Essack enquired about AGSA’s approach to dysfunctional municipalities. Ngoma explained close collaboration with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and National Treasury through a ministerial committee formed by the president. They identified dysfunctional municipalities and implemented interventions accordingly.

Madlala reiterated the necessity for a radical policy shift, suggesting a national discussion involving the Minister of Cogta. He critiqued the cyclical nature of oversight failures, urging substantive changes within a year. “This was the culture of the country,” he said, emphasising the need for public awareness and participation in holding municipalities accountable.

As Scopa prepares for a strategy session to address these systemic failures, the chairperson emphasised the importance of decisive action. “People are elected to make decisions and account for those decisions,” he reminded members. Urging collaboration across governmental tiers, he concluded, “Ultimately, it is the elected representatives who must do their work, and this applies to the Committee.”

With elections looming and public patience wearing thin, the clock ticks loudly for South Africa’s municipalities. Whether meaningful reform materialises before another cycle of despair unfolds remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: the nation demands answers — and accountability — from those entrusted with its future.

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Municipal Chaos: A nation held hostage by incompetence and corruption