By Akani Nkuna
Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has established a disciplinary board to investigate financial misconduct and unauthorised and wasteful expenditure in the metro.
“The disciplinary board has already concluded preliminary investigations on six matters totalling R535 million and will report the outcomes to the council at its next ordinary meeting… These matters pertain to alleged acts of financial misconduct and historical unresolved UIFWE (Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure) issues that will lead to consequence management,” he said.
This follows a scathing letter sent by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana two weeks ago to the municipality.
The minister instructed Morero to respond with a comprehensive plan on how he planned to crack down on financial misconduct and enforce consequence management.
This includes a full account of the issues behind the R23.6 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure as reported in the city’s 2023/24 financial statements.
The R23.6 billion comprises R13bn (55%) in unauthorised expenditure, R9.9 billion (42%) in irregular expenditure and R735 million (3%) in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Morero told reporters that he was optimistic that the current financial year would record fewer financial irregularities and wasteful expenditure, and monthly reports to the National Treasury would foster a cohesive approach in clamping down on financial mismanagement.
The mayor said he had also established a war room that met weekly to oversee the city’s purse.
“This initiative is already yielding positive results, bringing us closer to achieving a sustainable minimum average revenue collection of R200 million a day,” said Morero.
While Morero admitted that the concerns raised by Godongwana were significant, he said they were inherited from previous administrations.
“I want to clearly state, as I publicly did when I assumed office during my first term as executive mayor in 2022, that our beloved city has endured a period of mismanagement and poor leadership from previous administrations, particularly during the DA-led coalition,” he said.
According to Morero, during the DA-led coalition expenditures were largely unaddressed and not regularised as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
Morero said that most of the unauthorised expenditure was due to bulk purchases of electricity and water that exceeded the approved budget, alongside “both technical and non-technical losses that occur during service delivery”.
The irregular expenditure was mainly due to the city acquiring goods and services without fully complying with supply chain regulations.
“It is essential to note that non-compliance leading to irregular or unauthorised expenditure does not imply that the city did not receive the services or goods purchased; it indicates that there was non-compliance in the procurement process,” he said.
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