MEC for finance Oscar Mabuyane has called to task underperforming municipalities who adopted unfunded budgets and underspent on infrastructure grants.
Mabuyane was speaking during a session he called with the mayors in King William’s Town.
He cautioned mayors against using administrators to fix political problems.
“We must enforce the law. We must enforce compliance. There must be consequences,” Mabuyane told the mayors.
Municipalities which are in the red include Dr Bayers Naude, Mnquma, Raymond Mhlaba and Walter Sisulu, which reported high creditors with debt owed at Eskimo sitting at R359m.
Last year Provincial Treasury conducted an assessment of the municipal budgets for the 2018/19 financial year adopted by the municipal councils, and realized that adopted budgets of 16 municipalities were unfunded and they were in contravention of Section 18 of the Municipal Financial Management Act.​..