The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday started joint oversight visits in KwaZulu-Natal to meet with municipalities flagged by the Auditor General as distressed or dysfunctional.

“The oversight visit follows a briefing by the AGSA on the 2023–2024 local government audit outcomes, which highlighted a persistent trend of poor audit results across municipalities,” said the committees.

According to the AG, only 41 municipalities (16%) achieved clean audits for the period in question.

Parliament said 59 municipalities had improved audit outcomes since the 2020-21 financial year, while 40 had regressed, while 13 municipalities missed the legislated deadline for submitting financial statements and performance reports for auditing.

The committees will also receive presentations from national and provincial auditor-general representatives during the visit.

The committees said the oversight would focus on identifying underlying causes of poor audit outcomes and governance failures.

Also on the agenda would be evaluating existing interventions and support measures, engaging provincial leadership on accountability, and exploring ways to strengthen intergovernmental relations to improve municipal performance and service delivery.

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All sessions are scheduled to be held at Pietermaritzburg City Hall, starting at 9 am daily.

On Tuesday, the committees will receive briefings from provincial leadership, including Premier Thami Ntuli, the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and the MEC for Finance, followed by engagements with municipal leaders from Mandeni, Mpofana, Inkosi Langalibalele, Umzumbe and eThekwini.

On Wednesday, engagements are set with Ugu District, Amajuba District, Newcastle, uThukela District, Umkhanyakude District, Mtubatuba and Umzinyathi.

On Thursday, meetings are scheduled with Endumeni, Nongoma, Nquthu, Msunduzi, Mhlathuze and Impendle.

On Friday, the committees will conclude with engagements with the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma District Municipality and traditional leadership.

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