EASTERN Cape municipalities blew R5.1-billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the 2011-2012 financial year – more than double the previous year.
Auditor-General Terence Nombembe told the premier, Noxolo Kiviet, and other provincial leaders in East London yesterday that councillors who lacked the will or skill to manage state funds were bringing local government down.
“At our office we have made up our mind that councillors, most of whom lack capacity, are the real cause of collapse of local government in South Africa and in particular the Eastern Cape.
“We should stop beating around the bush and deal with this issue of capacitating these politicians decisively because there is no way clean audits will see the light of day if this is not fixed,” he said.
In his consolidated report on the audit of provincial municipalities, he said the 2011-2012 total was up from R2.6-billion in the 2011 budget year.
He said spending regarded as unauthorised because it was not used for its mandated purpose topped R2.16-billion in 31 Eastern Cape municipalities and one municipal institution.
The report said municipalities reported R591-million in unauthorised expenditure.
This was only slightly up on the previous year’s R570-million.
But auditors found a further R1.57- billion that had been misspent to give a total of R2.16-billion.
Nombembe said in his report that 43 municipalities and six municipal entities allocated a further R2.68-billion irregularly because it was authorised in contravention of other rules and laws.
The amount was up from R2.02- billion the previous year.
The report states that R1.18-billion of that amount was identified during audit while more than R700-million could not be accounted for.
Misspending defined as “fruitless and wasteful” because it was allocated without due care decreased by more than R6-million from R37-million in the 2010-2011 financial year to just over R30-million.
The Eastern Cape’s two metropolitan municipalities – Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay – accounted for R897-million of the misspent R5-billion, R363-million was misspent by OR Tambo District, R272-million by Alfred Nzo and R182-million by Cacadu District.
With only a few months before the government’s 2014 deadline for all agencies to receive clean audits, not a single provincial municipality received a clean bill of health from Nombembe’s office, as was the case in the previous two financial years.
Nombembe said many provincial councillors were not properly trained to perform their oversight role and were thus contributing immensely to the “crumbling” of most of the provincial municipalities.
He said a lack of political will and councillors who were not adequately equipped for their roles were the number one enemies of stability and clean audits, adding that councillors were the worst contributors to instability in provincial councils.
“We cannot only talk about the administration in municipalities while the real perpetrators of this instability are left scot-free.
“Councillors’ empowerment must be a reality and if not, this is going to take us backwards to square one,” Nombembe said.
He said budget and oversight training should be mandatory for all councillors.
“We just cannot put these councillors in those positions and then let capacity building be voluntary.
“The question should be what do we do to capacitate our public representatives. I know we do not have answers for that but it is leading to our failure as local government.
“If we can just focus on that, we are in a better chance to solve problems in local government because we have been too loose for too long,” Nombembe said.
Kiviet said she was “angry and frustrated” by individuals in municipalities who choose to take shortcuts by not following rules and legislation on governance and procurement.
The premier promised that her government would take a hard line on politicians who interfered in administration and that the thorny issue of clean audits would be a “standing agenda item” in all her executive’s meetings and community outreach programmes.
ANC provincial chairman and finance MEC Phumulo Masualle said the party was deeply concerned by the dismal state of provincial municipalities, saying the ANC would work towards the mandatory capacitation of local government politicians. —
EC leaders to blame for R5bn waste
Auditor-General Terence Nombembe told the premier, Noxolo Kiviet, and other provincial leaders in East London yesterday that councillors who lacked the will or skill to manage state funds were bringing local government down.
“At our office we have made up our mind that councillors, most of whom lack capacity, are the real cause of collapse of local government in South Africa and in particular the Eastern Cape.
“We should stop beating around the bush and deal with this issue of capacitating these politicians decisively because there is no way clean audits will see the light of day if this is not fixed,” he said.
In his consolidated report on the audit of provincial municipalities, he said the 2011-2012 total was up from R2.6-billion in the 2011 budget year.
He said spending regarded as unauthorised because it was not used for its mandated purpose topped R2.16-billion in 31 Eastern Cape municipalities and one municipal institution.
The report said municipalities reported R591-million in unauthorised expenditure.
This was only slightly up on the previous year’s R570-million.
But auditors found a further R1.57- billion that had been misspent to give a total of R2.16-billion.
Nombembe said in his report that 43 municipalities and six municipal entities allocated a further R2.68-billion irregularly because it was authorised in contravention of other rules and laws.
The amount was up from R2.02- billion the previous year.
The report states that R1.18-billion of that amount was identified during audit while more than R700-million could not be accounted for.
Misspending defined as “fruitless and wasteful” because it was allocated without due care decreased by more than R6-million from R37-million in the 2010-2011 financial year to just over R30-million.
The Eastern Cape’s two metropolitan municipalities – Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay – accounted for R897-million of the misspent R5-billion, R363-million was misspent by OR Tambo District, R272-million by Alfred Nzo and R182-million by Cacadu District.
With only a few months before the government’s 2014 deadline for all agencies to receive clean audits, not a single provincial municipality received a clean bill of health from Nombembe’s office, as was the case in the previous two financial years.
Nombembe said many provincial councillors were not properly trained to perform their oversight role and were thus contributing immensely to the “crumbling” of most of the provincial municipalities.
He said a lack of political will and councillors who were not adequately equipped for their roles were the number one enemies of stability and clean audits, adding that councillors were the worst contributors to instability in provincial councils.
“We cannot only talk about the administration in municipalities while the real perpetrators of this instability are left scot-free.
“Councillors’ empowerment must be a reality and if not, this is going to take us backwards to square one,” Nombembe said.
He said budget and oversight training should be mandatory for all councillors.
“We just cannot put these councillors in those positions and then let capacity building be voluntary.
“The question should be what do we do to capacitate our public representatives. I know we do not have answers for that but it is leading to our failure as local government.
“If we can just focus on that, we are in a better chance to solve problems in local government because we have been too loose for too long,” Nombembe said.
Kiviet said she was “angry and frustrated” by individuals in municipalities who choose to take shortcuts by not following rules and legislation on governance and procurement.
The premier promised that her government would take a hard line on politicians who interfered in administration and that the thorny issue of clean audits would be a “standing agenda item” in all her executive’s meetings and community outreach programmes.
ANC provincial chairman and finance MEC Phumulo Masualle said the party was deeply concerned by the dismal state of provincial municipalities, saying the ANC would work towards the mandatory capacitation of local government politicians. —
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