Staff Reporter
Gauteng MEC for Finance Lebogang Maile said on Tuesday that there has been a slow economic growth across Gauteng’s municipalities, citing the 2024 Gauteng Socio-Economic Review and Outlook (SERO).
Mail said economic activity grew by only 0.6% in the most recent period, with projections of 1.3% for 2024 and 2.8% for 2025.
These figures, Maile warned, jeopardize the province’s developmental objectives, particularly poverty reduction and job creation.
Maile was tabling province’s medium-term budget policy statement at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in Johannesburg.
He said the audit outcomes further underscore governance challenges.
“The most common findings identified by AG with respect to the challenges impacting the performance of municipalities relates to expenditure management, unauthorised, irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure, procurement and contract management, material misstatements or limitation in submission of annual financial statements and consequence management,” said Maile.
“Some progress was made where municipalities investigated unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Additionally, disciplinary boards were established to deal with cases of financial misconduct.”
Maile said to bolster financial reporting, the Gauteng Provincial Treasury (GPT) has implemented initiatives such as quarterly assessments of compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and the introduction of the Annual Financial Statement (AFS) Accelerator Program.
“We have introduced the AFS Accelerator Program which requires municipalities to produce interim financial statements,” said Maile.
“Additionally, we are in the process of finalising the rolling out of a 3-year capacity building training program that will assist in capacitating municipal officials, councilors, and other relevant oversight structures to be able to effectively execute their respective legislative responsibilities. The training will cover broad MFMA areas including budgeting, revenue and expenditure management, asset management, risk management, accounting and audit support as well as supply chain management.”
Eskom Debt-Relief Programme
Maile also addressed the potential of the national government’s Eskom Debt Relief Programme for Gauteng municipalities.
He said five municipalities, including Emfuleni, Merafong, and Rand West City, have received approval for participation, with a combined ring-fenced debt relief amount exceeding R1.6 billion.
The Rand West City Local Municipality, the first beneficiary, had R279.72 million of its debt written off after meeting the programme’s stringent conditions.
Similar assessments for Emfuleni and Mogale City are underway, with announcements expected soon.
Maile added that energy security was critical for Gauteng’s reindustrialization efforts and residents’ livelihoods.
He explained that municipal debt to Eskom has strained finances, redirecting funds from vital community services.
“The huge debt to Eskom has meant that municipal finances, which are already constrained, had to be directed towards the serving of debt to the power utility,” said Maile.
“And because money is not infinite, when it is directed towards the servicing of debt, it means it is being redirected from other key services that benefit our communities.”
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