SANDILE MOTHA
OPPOSITION parties in KwaZulu-Natal say the recent municipal audit outcomes released by the Auditor- General Kimi Makwetu this week were sufficient grounds to place the uMgungundlovu district municipality under administration.
The political parties were speaking to Inside Metros in the aftermath of the district topping the province as the worst performing municipality.
According to the 2018/19 municipal audit outcomes released by Kimi Makwetu on Wednesday, the district recorded six qualified audit opinions.
“This is a clear indication that the district is not well run both administratively and politically. Currently the post of CFO has not been filled for a year now as a result there is no financial stability,” explained Bongumusa Nhlabathi, DA uMgungundlovu caucus leader.
Nhlabathi told Inside Metros that the situation was only getting worse, saying municipal woes should be attributed to the incompetence of current mayor Thobekile Maphumulo.
“Political will is just not there and the buck stops with the mayor as the chairperson of finance. We need outside interventions because as the opposition we do not have the numbers,” said Nhlabathi.
He said all crucial accounting structures and municipal internal controls such as supply chain management and the audit committee were dysfunctional.
Inside Metros understands that the district is a victim of ANC factional battles vying for the political control of the municipality.
Early this year, former uMsunduzi local municipality deputy mayor Thobani Zuma was redeployed to the district as the chairperson of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee.
Zuma, a powerful political figure in the district politics and relative of former President Jacob Zuma, was forced out of uMsunduzi by the ANC provincial executive committee in August 2019.
He was fingered as a key mover in the shenanigans confronting the capital city.
Within a few months he was back in the scheme of things, this time deployed to another powerful position as head of a committee providing an oversight to municipal accounts.
In the released report measuring financial performance of municipalities, the district also featured highly as the worst offender in unauthorised and irregular expenditure.
Other local municipalities under the district included the troubled Mpofana municipality receiving a disclaimer.
uMsunduzi, uMshwathi, Umngeni, Richmond and Impendle all received a qualified audit while uMkhambathini had an unqualified audit opinion.
The overall provincial picture saw only one clean audit being achieved courtesy of uKhahlamba local municipality under the uThukela district.
Bukelani Zuma, IFP caucus leader in the uMgungundlovu district said the problem stemmed from the failure to employ skilled professionals with sound financial management capabilities in key municipal positions.
“We are in this crisis because of cadre deployment and treating municipalities as a dumping ground and an employing agent for comrades. We must go back to the basics and attract professionals who are not politically affiliated to get things done,” said Zuma.
The South Africa Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) said there was nothing to celebrate from the audit outcomes.
“We repeat our calls that unless there is a personal liability, Municipalities will continue doing as they please with impunity. We therefore want to see all those who authorised the fruitless expenditure being held personally liable. The Asset Forfeiture Unit should be involved to ensure that this money is recouped, even if it means selling over their assets to recover this money,” said the union in a statement.
(Compiled by Inside Metros staff