PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE Premier of the Free State province, Mxolisi Dukwana, held a high-level meeting with Tsakane Maluleke, the Auditor General of South Africa, along with Mayors and Municipal Managers from the municipalities with the poorest audit outcomes.
Municipalities which participated in the training session on Wednesday included Masilonyana, Mohokare, Maluti-a- Phofung, Maluti Water, Tokologo, Mantsopa, Mafube, Kopanong and Nketoana.
Last year, the Auditor-General revealed that irregular expenditure in the Free State has increased from over R7.6 billion to now more than R9 billion.
“Inaction by political and administrative leadership continued to be a deliberate obstruction to municipalities’ effective functioning. The provincial leadership should be very concerned about this state of affairs,” Maluleke said.
Dukwana reiterated the need for all municipalities, their entities, provincial departments and all other role-players, to remain firmly planted within the accountability ecosystem.
Maluleke briefed municipal officials about the significance of tracking the management of projects and by extension, the performance of municipal managers and heads of departments, in the local government sphere.
She said she appreciated the shifting of the tone of leadership at a provincial government level, toward a greater sense of consequence management and accountability overall and that, “prevailing against the vestiges of poor performance in municipalities, would require courage and astuteness.”
The office of the Auditor-General of South Africa and the Free State Provincial government, vowed to work harder and smarter, to raise the bar of accountability, in municipalities in particular.
During the session, all mayors were each asked what their next course of action would be, in getting their municipalities out of the red zone of a disclaimer.
Maluleke commended the Free State Provincial Government for ensuring that both the Provincial Treasury and CoGTA departments, collaborated and cooperated closely, to turn the tide against poor audit outcomes in municipalities, as well as helping them fill critical vacancies of municipal managers and Heads of Departments.
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