SAHRC concerned municipalities are not improving their audit outcomes
30 June 2019
The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it is deeply concerned that municipalities are not improving their audit outcomes.
This follows Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu's release of the municipal audit report for the 2017/18 period.
Makwetu, who is responsible for auditing government books, raised concerns about irregular expenditure in local government, flagging that it remained high, although lower than 2016/17 and previous years. The spending decreased from R29.7bn to R25bn.
SAHRC spokesperson Gushwell Brooks said the commission had written a letter seeking an audience with Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and would in that meeting share its concerns regarding the state of municipalities among other interests it had on the state of the sphere of local government.
"The report by the Auditor-General is startling as it paints an overall picture which highlights that the performance of municipalities is progressively deteriorating at an alarming rate in key metrics with regard to past performances in this sphere of government," Brooks added.
The commission said it was unacceptable that billions were still irregularly spent when millions of people in the country continued living in impoverished and deplorable conditions without adequate access to the most basic social services.
"Twenty-five years into our constitutional democracy, it is regrettable and totally unacceptable that such wastage of precious resources is still rampant in our municipalities."
Brooks said the SAHRC would be robustly engaging with relevant stakeholders, including the South African Local Government Association, to ensure there was improved delivery of essential services in all communities across nine provinces.
