Corruption allegations, ballooning consultation fees and investigations into irregular expenditures.
These are some of the issues impacting service delivery at dysfunctional municipalities in the North West laid bare before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), and the Standing Committee on Appropriations in parliament.
At the centre of scrutiny was Madibeng local municipality, where speaker Ditshego Mbezi admitted that the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), the body tasked with interrogating unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, has failed to conduct investigations for four years.
“Investigations have never been done. Most of the MPAC members have been there since 2021 but nothing has come out,” said Mbezi.
“I have enrolled them with the National School of Government for training to try and build capacity but I cannot explain why, after all these years, the committee has consistently failed to perform its oversight role.”
Co-operative governance and traditional affairs portfolio committee chairperson, Zweli Mkhize, expressed great frustration.
“You say MPAC is not working but you sound helpless. You have been speaker since 2021 and you admit it has never investigated these matters. Do you think that is fine,” Mkhize asked.
Madibeng’s reliance on consultants has ballooned to R45.12m, the hearing heard.
MPs noted the municipality started at R8m a few years ago, rose to R22m and has now doubled again.
Municipal manager, Quiet Kgatla, admitted that consultants were preparing annual financial statements, managing assets and supporting debt recovery.
However, he argued this was due to persistent capacity gaps.
“Over time, we need to get rid of these consultants but at present they are complementing our teams. Their contracts are capped at three years to allow for skills transfer and we expect our officials to learn and take over those functions. We cannot rely on them indefinitely,” he said.
Matlosana local municipality revealed staggering financial strain, revealing that it is sitting on almost R10bn in outstanding debtors, including R406m owed by government departments, R864m by businesses, and R9bn by households.
Despite a 76% collection rate, Klerksdorp-based Matlosana is crippled by two entities, Eskom and the Midvaal Water Board.
Municipal manager, Lesego Seametso said Eskom debt stood at R2.7bn by June, while Midvaal arrears climbed to R2.45bn.
“This is due to our inability to rigorously collect revenue. Despite these staggering amounts, our revenue collection has not kept pace and that is why we are sitting with ballooning arrears,” Seametso said.
This is due to our inability to rigorously collect revenue. Despite these staggering amounts, our revenue collection has not kept pace and that is why we are sitting with ballooning arrears
— Municipal manager, Lesego Seametso
Matlosana also faces a governance credibility crisis. Its chief financial officer, Mercy Phetla, has been arrested twice on corruption allegations but was reinstated after a precautionary suspension.
“Why, despite repeated Hawks investigations and two arrests, is CFO Mercy Phetla still in office?”
In Makwassi Hills, municipal manager Nokuthula Mbonani highlighted ongoing issues.
“The municipality has been sitting on decades of unresolved unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. When I joined in 2003, I found many unauthorised, irregular and fruitless expenditures uninvestigated due to their age and because most former employees are no longer here. Since then, the council referred these to MPAC for investigation.”
She added that the investigation began with fruitless expenditures related to Eskom and Magalies Water, and they are currently addressing the backlog.
“They are meeting weekly and will finish by the end of October,” she said.
The committee also heard of serious consequence management failures, including a 2017 Yellow Fleet procurement scandal in which a service provider took control of municipal vehicles after being paid R3.7m.
The matter eventually went to court, which ordered repayment and asset attachment.
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