CORRUPTION NEWSAuditor-General: 2021-22 MFMA outcomes show continuing decline 15 Jun 2022, 15:17 Capable leaders should demonstrate change by strengthening transparency and accountability. This is the call from Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke, who earlier today tabled the 2020-21 Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) audit outcomes in the National Assembly. The usual five-year comparison period encompasses the entirety of the administration that took office in 2016, with local government Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS NW treasury launches action plans for municipalities in financial distress 03 Sep 2021, 13:05 In a bid to improve the running of municipalities in the province, the North West provincial treasury is rolling out financial recovery plans for 14 particularly troubled entities. Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho announced the move in June 2021, while tabling the 2021/22 provincial budget. The targeted municipalities all have serious financial management and capacity challenges. Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Auditor-general: local government on the brink of collapse 07 Jul 2021, 14:22 By Kwazi Dlamini Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has called on leadership at both political and administrative level to make a determined commitment to tackling the scourge of corruption and irregular expenditure in local government. The consequences will be dire otherwise. Delivering her consolidated annual Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) report on local government for the Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Poor planning for Covid-19 relief funds left municipalities vulnerable to fraud 02 Jul 2021, 10:40 By Kwazi Dlamini Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke continues to raise concerns with the way local governments have handled the Covid-19 relief funds. Maluleke released the third special audit report on Covid-19 related initiatives, together with the 2019/20 Municipal Finance Management Act report – which we cover in an upcoming article – and 43 municipalities were put under the microscope for several reasons. They include municipalities which contributed the highest amount for irregular Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS SIU on the trail of govt officials abusing Covid-19 procurement 08 Feb 2021, 13:09 On Friday 5 February the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) released a report on its finalised investigations into ‘the procurement of, or contracting for, goods, works and services, including the construction, refurbishment, leasing, occupation and use of immovable property, during, or in respect of the National State of Disaster …’ The investigation was established in terms Read more >
INVESTIGATION Mnquma Local Municipality – a failure of governance 07 Sep 2018, 13:09 By Kwazi Dlamini Corruption-ridden Mnquma Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, together with its district municipality, Amathole, seems to be in tatters. Mnquma is off the radar – it cannot be reached by the usual forms of communication, while e-mail addresses provided on the website are unresponsive. The telephone number, also provided on their website Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Lack of accountability shows in MFMA audit results 31 May 2018, 11:29 Released in Parliament last week by auditor-general (AG) Kimi Makwetu, the 2016-2017 local government audit results present a bleak picture. The AG attributes the overall deterioration in local municipality audit results and lack of compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) to advice and warnings that were largely not heeded. Part one of our Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS MFMA: improvements, but municipalities still have work 27 Jun 2017, 9:20 The auditor-general’s (AG) latest report on the financial performance of municipalities, released last week, shows a marginal improvement for 2015/16, but overall the local government had failed to maintain the promising five-year momentum – gained in the years 2010/11 to 2014/15 – that he reported on last year. At a briefing on 21 June, AG Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS Local government in South Africa – part 5, finances 19 Mar 2014, 9:37 The second-last article in our local government series tackles the issue of finances. Funding from the national government is essential for the running of municipal administrations as well as the delivery of services to their communities. There are regulations that prescribe how the finances of municipalities should be run Municipalities are required to provide services Read more >