ANC NEC: Ramaphosa emphasises service delivery and uprooting corruption in municipalities

JOHANNESBURG - African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the party must be resolute about tackling poor accountability and weak consequence management in municipalities.

He was speaking at the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Boksburg on Saturday, where the party is reviewing the state of local government.

With preparations for the upcoming municipal elections underway, the party said it was determined to win back lost support.

Ramaphosa acknowledged that a major driver of municipal failures has been the absence of accountability for corrupt and ineffective political and administrative officials.

“Municipal oversight structures should monitor budgets and how money at local government is spent. They should monitor service delivery and should also ensure that corruption does not take place.” he said.

Ramaphosa stressed the urgent need for municipalities to improve how they manage government funds, warning that poor financial management directly undermines service delivery.

“If one goes through the audit general’s report, you will find that most of our municipalities simply don’t have the skills to do monthly management accounts. What they often do is to outsource that whole function. Even if it is outscored, it is found that the results of the outsourcing come out flawed, leading to the auditor general issuing disclaimer [audit opinions].”

Ramaphosa also went on to slam government departments for failing to spend their allocated budgets, calling it treasonous.

In the last financial year, the Gauteng government faced criticism after underspending its budget by R1.8 billion.

Ramaphosa noted that public funds must be used to improve the lives of South Africans, rather than being returned to the National Treasury.

“Quite often, we find that funds are returned to the national fiscus without being spent. This is a treason against our people because they expect that when Parliament adopts a budget, they expect that the money will be spent," Ramaphosa added.