AGSA flags procurement failures, weak financial controls at City of Johannesburg

By Akani Nkuna

The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) has flagged procurement failures at the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), saying appointment processes for service providers are largely uncompetitive and unfair, while poor record-keeping and governance weaknesses continue to undermine accountability and service delivery.

Briefing the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), AGSA official Fhumulani Rabonda said most municipal projects were characterised by unjustified deviations linked to poor planning, which proved costly and highlighted systemic procurement failures.

“[Disciplinary boards] have not been effective in ensuring that they are up to date with all investigations and disciplinary cases. This is due to slow response from management, slow submission of information and the backlog they need to deal with,” he said on Tuesday.

“The key area resulting in procurement failures has to do with the processes themselves. The processes we embark on to appoint service providers have been found to be uncompetitive and