On 8 August the Auditor-General Tsakani Mluleka signed off on her annual local government report for the financial year 2022/2023. The AG, in her report, makes an urgent call for performance, accountability, transparency and institutional integrity in local government.
“Local government is instrumental in providing communities with essential services such as clean water, proper sanitation, reliable electricity, effective waste management, and well-maintained roads and municipal infrastructure. After years of service delivery failures, council and administrative instability, financial mismanagement, and disregard for the law, this sphere of government faces greater demands than ever before to regain the trust of South Africans.”
Mafube Business Forum (MBF) are encouraged by the caution that the AG will be using her enhanced mandate to demand action and accountability; and are pleased with the impact that her office is making through the material irregularity process. Such impact includes the prevention and recovery of financial losses, actions taken to address financial management weaknesses and the harm caused due to pollution of water sources, and the implementation of consequences for transgressions.
This has assisted with the culture shift to support transparency in the submission of financial statements and as an example, Mafube Local Municipality responded to the material irregularity notifications issued to the municipal manager, by submitting their outstanding financial statements in March 2024 – 5 months after the legislated date for submission! For this reason, Mafube Local Municipality is excluded from the AG’s Report – to the detriment of the community who have a right to be informed of the financial position of their municipality.
In the view of MBF, the newly-appointed senior management team must realise that the achieving of a “clean audit” is now an absolute non-negotiable, no compromise requirement - a bar that has been set at its lowest. Be reminded that you are consuming public funds and resources.
MBF read with interest the paid-for statement by Advocate Lepheana, the ever-impervious, authority-defying Acting Municipal Manager of MLM. Lepheana, in the Frankfort Herald of 30 August - now promising “communication and transparency” and a laughable “suggestion box”! MBF wish to remind him of his failure to respond to the myriad of correspondence directed to him and his failure to respond as required in terms of section 5 of the Municipal Systems Act. Over 700 disputes have been registered with MLM, without as much as a single attempt at deliberation and consideration of the rights of consumers.
The AG Report on local government and municipal service delivery can be downloaded from the MBF website at www.mafubebf.org.
MBF invite residents, business owners and ratepayers to visit our offices at 18A Kerk Street, Frankfort on Mondays to Thursdays from 08h30 to 16h00 and Fridays 08h30 to 12h00. Call or send a WhatsApp message to Marina at 079 145 4295. Visit our website www.mafubebf.org and follow us on Facebook.
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