COMMENT | Management and capacity dilemma hobbling local government - Improving the financial sustainability and leadership of municipalities is part of the immediate action that needs to be taken to stop them spiralling into disfunction
Local government is approaching a critical crossroad after more than two decades of mismanagement. Municipalities are at the service delivery coalface. At this level of government, the citizens and voters deal directly with the government and local government is the face of government. At the general election in 2024, will the governing ANC be punished for its failure at the municipal level?
Regarding the equitable share, the local government receives an annual amount of about R135-billion from the national government. In contrast, provincial government receives an amount of R661-billion. The question should be asked: should local government not receive much higher financial support from the national government?
It might be asked if the provincial government could step in and manage the growing number of dysfunctional municipalities. The answer is, in most cases, “no”, due to the lack of provincial government capacity and the highly political environments in municipalities. In many instances, the appointed administrators are consultants and appointed at huge cost.
Skills transfer also seems not to take place. Most municipalities that spend vast amounts – more than R20-million – on consultants for accounting and audit purposes did not achieve clean audits but poor outcomes from the audit process. The financial health of local government is of grave concern, with only 16% classified by the auditor general as in a good state, while the rest are in growing difficulties.
Another shocking statistic is that only 11% of the 257 municipalities complied with supply-chain management legislation contained in the Municipal Finance Management Act when allocating tenders. We require capable, ethical, accountable and citizen-focused leadership in all municipalities, committed to serving the local people as public servants. In 2020, 1 544 public officials were still illegally doing business with the government.
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