The Ngaka Modiri Molema, Rustenburg and JB Marks Municipalities have been the top three contributors to annual irregular expenditure over the past three years.

The AG’s North West head, Success Marota, says it is concerning that municipalities in the province continue to incur irregular expenditure, despite more than 50 % of them having been placed under administration. 

Marota says intervention in many of these municipalities has not yielded desired outcomes, due to so called lack of clarity of the roles and responsibilities of the appointed administrators. He highlights that non-compliance with Supply Chain Management regulations is a great concern as it is the main cause of irregular expenditures.

“The use of consultants for financial reporting did not result in improved quality of financial statements” added Marota. He says 17 municipalities audited spent over R179 million on consultants alone despite these having proved to be ineffective.

OFM News previously reported that wasteful expenditures and exorbitant salary bill are amongst key issues flagged by the AG in municipalities in the province. In the 2018/19 local government report that AG has highlighted that municipalities in the province are not only continuing to bear the brunt of their R556.2 investment in the now liquidated VBS Mutual Bank, but that they are incurring high fruitless and wasteful expenditures. 

In efforts to curb irregular expenditure, Marota maintains that municipalities need to put in place preventative controls and create a culture of accountability.

OFM News