KZN councillor security costs among highest for local municipalities, Parliament told

Security for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) councillors is among the highest cost drivers for local municipalities, Parliament heard.

Cooperative Governance (COGTA) MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi told the portfolio committee that political instability was also largely the reason why many municipalities in the province were performing poorly and why their finances were in disarray.

Parliament’s portfolio committee is spending the week in the province on an oversight visit to probe the dismal audit findings of the Auditor-General for the 2023/24 financial year.

KwaZulu-Natal municipalities are plagued by high levels of unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless expenditure, with only 16% of municipalities achieving clean audits and an overall regression in audit findings during the year under review.

Sitting in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday, where the Msunduzi Municipality racked up R900 million in irregular expenditure, the committee heard that under the stewardship of veteran municipal technocrat Michael Sutcliffe, the tide was turning.

Meanwhile, at Impendle Municipality, staff have not received their December salaries and Buthelezi said the situation for this month looked bleak too.

“The major issue there is political instability where the councillors there have failed to elect a mayor there for more than six months now, and the political instability is spilling over into the administration,” said Buthelezi.

He added that security for councillors was also adding to municipalities’ precarious finances.

“All municipalities are spending above the norm for that. And part of that is contained in the Moerane Report on the type of risks that councillors face in the environment,” he said.

Committee chairperson Zweli Mkhize ordered that Parliament be provided with the exact details of which individuals are receiving protection, and the monthly and annual costs to municipalities.