Municipal failures are a threat to national security

The latest auditor-general report on the financial state of the country’s municipalities paints a grim picture of our local government sector.

Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke said only 16% of the country’s 257 municipalities received a clean audit. Worryingly, she reported that the standard of financial management in the sector had gone backwards over the past five years.

Describing the state of many municipalities as “dire”, Maluleke said most could not pay critical suppliers, including Eskom and water boards, on time. And financially distressed local governments, where they were awarded funds from the national fiscus, spent these on paying salaries, “leaving little available for service delivery”.

Despite spending nearly R238m on financial reporting consultants, the quality of financial statements by many municipalities had “remained poor”.

While some municipalities had submitted their financial statements late (an increasing number), the worst of them had not been audited at the time of the report because they had still not submitted their statements.

The Free State was the most dire province, with no municipalities receiving clean audits, but improvements had been noticed in Limpopo — thanks to reliance on consultants.

Maluleke’s findings will come as no surprise, as the defects she highlights have been raised in previous reports by her office.

Instead of clueless political deployees, we must insist on the appointment of competent officials to run the municipalities

This should be of concern to all of us. It points to gross mismanagement of public finances, which provides fertile ground for corruption. Such careless handling of taxpayers’ money is often accompanied by failure to provide citizens with public services to which they are entitled.

So, what is to be done? Instead of clueless political deployees, we must insist on the appointment of competent officials to run the municipalities. And there must be greater focus on serious consequences for errant officials.

Apart from the financial impact, failing municipalities pose a national security threat because their failure to perform their public service functions — such as fixing roads, providing electricity and water — lead to civil discontent and social instability. They also are detrimental to economic development as they drive away business and investment, exacerbating the problem of unemployment.

Enough has been said about local government’s failures and weaknesses. It is time for the government to act resolutely to eradicate the cancer, instead of merely shrugging its shoulders in response to the AG’s reports.