THE Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs (DLGTA) has summoned all municipal managers of the country’s metros to a meeting next week to account for their spending of urban settlement development grants (USDG).
The Eastern Cape’s two metros are likely to face some tough talking as indications are they spent only about 43% of the grant by the end of the third quarter on March 31.
The worst culprit is Buffalo City Metro.
BCM was allocated R499.4- million and as at March 2013 only spent R155-million – 31% of the funding.
Nelson Mandela Metro in Port Elizabeth is not much better as it had only spent 53% of its R592.8-million grant.
This was despite having one of its informal settlements (Silvertown) declared the worst place to live in South Africa.
NMM received an amber rating, according to national treasury ratings, according to local government MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane, while BCM is in the red.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi admitted the metro had not done enough, but said there were valid reasons, on which he did not elaborate, for the delays in spending the grant.
He also confirmed that as at end March 2013 – the municipality’s third quarter – the expenditure was sitting at 31%.
But Ngesi said metro officials are hard at work trying to improve the situation.
He said more work is being done and more contracts have been awarded.
“We (can) comfortably say we have moved from that mark (31%) but the percentage is being consolidated. ”
Nelson Mandela Metro spokesman Kupido Baron did not respond to our e-mailed questions, sent on Tuesday.
Contacted on Wednesday he said the matter was receiving the attention of the acting chief financial officer, but no response was received by the time of going to press yesterday.
It was unclear who from Qoboshiyane’ s department would attend the meeting. —
EC metros face grant grilling
The Eastern Cape’s two metros are likely to face some tough talking as indications are they spent only about 43% of the grant by the end of the third quarter on March 31.
The worst culprit is Buffalo City Metro.
BCM was allocated R499.4- million and as at March 2013 only spent R155-million – 31% of the funding.
Nelson Mandela Metro in Port Elizabeth is not much better as it had only spent 53% of its R592.8-million grant.
This was despite having one of its informal settlements (Silvertown) declared the worst place to live in South Africa.
NMM received an amber rating, according to national treasury ratings, according to local government MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane, while BCM is in the red.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi admitted the metro had not done enough, but said there were valid reasons, on which he did not elaborate, for the delays in spending the grant.
He also confirmed that as at end March 2013 – the municipality’s third quarter – the expenditure was sitting at 31%.
But Ngesi said metro officials are hard at work trying to improve the situation.
He said more work is being done and more contracts have been awarded.
“We (can) comfortably say we have moved from that mark (31%) but the percentage is being consolidated. ”
Nelson Mandela Metro spokesman Kupido Baron did not respond to our e-mailed questions, sent on Tuesday.
Contacted on Wednesday he said the matter was receiving the attention of the acting chief financial officer, but no response was received by the time of going to press yesterday.
It was unclear who from Qoboshiyane’ s department would attend the meeting. —
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