They are the only two municipalities out of 257 countrywide that did not respond to Stats SA’s request for access to statements by the cut-off date, which was 2 July. There is no indication as to why the embattled municipalities failed to submit said statements. 

Most recently, Matjhabeng joined Mangaung Metropolitan Municipalities as the third and fourth highest contributors to unauthorised expenditure countrywide for the 2019/20 financial year. This was revealed in Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke’s latest report on the 2019/20 local government audit outcomes released on 30 June.

Matjhabeng and Mangaung Metro incurred R1,5 billion and R1,17 billion in unauthorised expenditure respectively. This supports the assertion in the AG report that there is a lack of accountability in Free State municipalities and this creates a perpetual disrespect for regulations, resulting in the mismanagement of resources and lack of service delivery. 

Mangaung is also the second-highest contributor to irregular expenditure with R1,6 billion incurred. This revelation comes amidst protest action and shutdowns in both Matjhabeng and Mangaung Metro recently.

Stats SA’s Financial Census of Municipalities report creates a picture of how dependent South Africa’s municipalities are on national departments for funding. On a national level the census reveals that only 29% of the 257 municipalities’ revenue comes from government grants, subsidies, donation, and contributions. This is a far more optimistic view of the state of municipalities in the country as compared to the latest Auditor-General municipal outcomes report or the latest Local Government Revenue and Expenditure report for the third quarter of 2020/21.

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