Central SA
#FSBudget: Municipalities in spotlight─── KATLEHO MORAPELA 06:20 Thu, 26 Nov 2020
The state of Free State local government and municipal financial woes will once again come into the spotlight on Friday when Finance MEC tables the provincial adjustment budget.
MEC Gadija Brown will table the 2020/21 adjustment budget before Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) during a virtual sitting. Here she is expected to outline the province's priorities for the remainder of the year and how the different departments have been performing.
Web: Delivering the Provincial Budget Speech in March at the Gariep Dam, Brown highlighted that the province is concerned about the performance of municipalities. This, as the province had the first metropolitan municipality placed under administration in the country, and downgraded twice by Moody's Credit Ratings.
Tabling the province's R39.504 billion budget, Brown announced that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is allocated R462.92 million in 2020/21, R473.85 million in 2021/22 and R492.276 million in 2022/23. She highlighted that the budget is amongst others was set to address Operation Clean Audit Programmes, Municipal Support Programme and Support for the establishment of Water Laboratories in municipalities.
Following the recent adverse report by the Auditor-General indicating that none of the Free State municipalities have been able to obtain a clean audit, and that they continue grappling with a lack of revenue collection, escalting Eskom debt and lack of political governance, Brown will be expected to shed more light on how her department plans to intervene.
The virtual sitting of the house will start at 10:00.
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