The Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke says municipalities’ use of consultants has shot up by more than R1 billion compared to the figure that was recorded last year.
She says consultants are being used for basic accounting functions that staff can perform.
Maluleka was speaking at the forum that Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation hosted in Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal.
“This idea that municipalities don’t invest in their own capabilities but rather employ people pay them a salary but then also employ consultants to do the very basics such as compiling the financial information.”
“Ten years ago when we started understanding that this was happening more and more, we decided to start looking at it in terms of how much municipalities across the country are spending just on this basic thing. The number 10 years ago was about R100 million. Last year was R1.6 billion across the country,” explains Maluleke.
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke briefs media on audit outcomes of national and provincial departments. Image Credits : GCIS
by Tshepo Mongoai, 29 October 2023