MEC Lebogang Maile has led a briefing on the state of municipalities in the province amid calls for public office bearers to come clean about how government money is being spent.
A new study by the Public Affairs Research Institute (Pari) has revealed that instead, a clean audit does not give an indication of the extent to which households especially the poor are able to afford and access basic services.
Deputy Cogta Minister Parks Tau made the admission on Tuesday night while the committee was being briefed on government interventions to bring crisis-hit municipalities back from the brink.
Collectively, the municipalities owe the struggling state-owned entity over R273 million in electricity fees.
Irregular expenditure among the country's municipalities has increased to R32 billion in the 2018/19 financial year.
Service delivery was also affected in these municipalities, with the Makwetu adding that cost-containment measures and recovery plans were introduced in the hope of recovering from the 'huge financial loss'.
The president used part of that speech to address the state of the nation's towns.
National Treasury chief director TV Pillay told MPs the worst-performing municipalities were also owed a R150 billion in unpaid debt, and this had a serious impact on revenues.
A Pari study on Section 139 interventions, which are implemented when there are financial crises in municipalities, shows that the legislation is seldom used, leading to the total collapse of municipalities.
Western Cape Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said that the increased population growth has added pressure on municipal infrastructure.
The minister made the announcement in Pretoria while introducing members of the municipal technical support teams.
Local Government Minister Zweli Mkhize says there’s a link between political killings and the collapse of municipalities.
Treasury's last quarterly report on the performance of municipalities reveals the expenditure of conditional grants is still lagging behind desired targets.
Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu says there still appears to be a lack of decisive leadership to hold municipalities accountable for their financial failings.
The president says the local government summit must come up with a plan of action to ensure transformation at local government level.
The OR Tambo District Municipality‚ Engcobo and Mnquma local municipalities have apparently been identified as the hub of alleged corrupt activities in the province.
Many municipalities in SA don't function properly because of poor management and administrative capacity.
The 2014/2015 municipal audit shows that only 54 out of 272 municipalities attained clean audits.
