The two municipalities in the popular Frances Baard District and John Taolo Gaetsewe District are amongst the many battling with service delivery issues. The hearings with Scopa follows several oversight visits by the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs last week. 

During the site visits in Kimberley, the Chairperson of the Committee, China Dodovu, expressed great concern over the municipalities’ administrative and financial woes. This as the Phokwane Local Municipality alone currently owes Eskom R107 million and is more than R110 million indebted to Vaalharts Water and Sedibeng Water.

Dodovu said it is also worrisome that the Phokwane Municipal Council has not been able to convene council meetings to consider statutory requirements, such as the approval of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), nor has it passed the 2019/20 budget.

He highlighted that “this undermines the role and function of municipalities to deliver services to the people”.

Dodovu added that the escalating debt of municipalities in this province has an immense contribution to their cash flow challenges and poor service delivery.

Even though Scopa will look into the municipalities’ 2016/17 audit outcome, Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu, during the release of the 2017/18 local government outcome, said there have not been many improvements and that most municipalities regressed.

Makwetu said a lack of accountability and commitment towards clean administration were some of the factors that contributed to adverse outcomes.

OFM News