Johannesburg 2009/10 Financial Report: No financial report, no service delivery information
The DA is seriously concerned that the City of Johannesburg has still not released its audited financial report for 2009/10, meaning that nine months after the end of the 2009/2010 municipal financial year, there is still no public report on the state of Johannesburg's finances. This is a serious indictment of the City's administrative ability.
It means that it is not able to measure the outcomes of its activities or measure the degree to which it has met its service delivery goals for the year. It is ultimately the people of Johannesburg, particularly those in impoverished communities who are disproportionately reliant on the basic services provided by the city, who will pay the price for this administrative failure.
In light of this, the DA calls on Parks Tau, Johannesburg Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, to immediately release the financial statements his department appears to be suppressing, and to explain the reasons for the serious delay in the release of the City's full financial report for 2009/10.
Despite the City of Johannesburg's 2009/10 unaudited annual report having been released, the report on the City's financial position, which would usually be released at the same time, has been held back. If annual reports and financial records are not properly maintained and timeously released, the implications for the administration of the City of Johannesburg are manifold.
These lapses in administration partly help to explain the occurrence of problems such as the billing crisis, which has impeded the ability of the City to efficiently collect revenue. This has serious implications for the revenue cycle that underpins the city's financial position and ability to deliver services. Quite simply, the city lacks the administrative efficiency to keep track of its service delivery outcomes.
Johannesburg is on the verge of receiving a qualified audit as a consequence of its billing chaos, since the Auditor-General has rejected financial statements from both Johannesburg Water and City Power. Should the City of Johannesburg receive a qualified audit, this would almost certainly affect its credit rating, which will hamper the City's ability to attract investment, raise money and pay back R15 billion in long-term loans. It goes without saying that this, in turn, will affect the City's growth prospects and ability to deliver services.
That the City's full financial report for 2009/10 has not yet been released raises serious concerns that the ANC-run council is seeking to suppress the city's poor financial performance until after the Local Government Election on 18 May.
The administrative crisis facing the City of Johannesburg could not stand in starker contrast to the details presented in the City of Cape Town's 2009/10 annual report. Ever since the DA took office in 2006, the City of Cape Town has achieved an unbroken run of unqualified audit reports; yet further evidence that where the DA governs, it governs better.
In Cape Town, the DA has shown that goal-oriented governance coupled with strong measurement and accountability mechanisms - which are strengthened through public participation and public announcement of these results - serve to drastically improve service delivery. This approach has played an important role in the DA's ability to ensure that better services are delivered to all citizens of Cape Town.
Under the DA, the City's housing delivery has increased, and in terms of service delivery, the City has virtually set the standard by which all metros are judged. The most recent Universal Household Access to Basic Services (UHABS) report ranked the city as the top metro for the provision of water, sanitation, refuse collection and electricity.
The manner in which the City of Cape Town and the City of Johannesburg have managed the release of their annual reports and financial statements, serves as an excellent example of the difference between an administration run by the DA, and an administration run by the ANC. The DA is serious about measuring service delivery outcomes against goals in order to ensure better services are delivered for all. The ANC, on the other hand, appears only interested in paying lip service to improved service delivery, while seeking to suppress information about poor performance.
Cape Town's growth, development and good governance bear testimony to the fact that where the DA governs, it is determined to deliver efficient, transparent and responsive government for all. The people of Johannesburg deserve a DA-run administration that can offer them the same.
Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane, DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg, March 27 2011
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
