Madibeng Municipality was among municipalities in North West that appeared before a joint parliamentary oversight delegation to account for the municipality’s state of affairs.
This is part of a broader engagement with underperforming municipalities.
“The Madibeng Local Municipality is flagged for its uncertainty as a concern as well as its non-compliance with the National Treasury’s debt relief conditions. Another issue that the municipality will have to account for is that it achieved only 67 per cent of its basic service delivery targets despite spending 100 per cent of the budget.,” said committee spokesperson Alicestine October.
The delegation comprises the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General. They will address the challenges of underperforming municipalities in the North West.
“This oversight visit is part of a broader engagement with underperforming municipalities across provinces. It comes amid growing concerns over significant challenges in municipal governance and financial management, as highlighted by the Office of the Auditor-General in the municipal audit outcomes for the 2023/24 financial year. The audit outcomes show that the municipalities in the North West are burdened by debt, repeatedly tabling unfunded budgets and often fail to investigate billions of rand in irregular expenditure,” October said.
She said service delivery has deteriorated in several areas, with some municipalities failing to meet basic infrastructure targets despite allocated budgets. Others continue to receive disclaimers year after year, while allegations of fraud, political interference and mismanagement.
Over the course of three days, Members of Parliament and their provincial counterparts met with all 23 municipalities in the province and engaged with mayors, speakers of councils, municipal managers, and chief financial officers.
The provincial government will also brief the delegation, including the Premier, Mr Lazerus Mokgosi, the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Mr Oageng Molapisi, and the MEC for Finance, Ms Kenetswe Mosenogi, who will provide updates on measures taken to support and stabilise municipalities in line with their constitutional responsibilities.
According to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize, who led the parliamentary delegation, the oversight visits aim to enforce accountability and consequence management, as well as to require municipalities to explain why billions of rands allocated for water, electricity and other services have been misused or lost. It is also aimed at ensuring that political office bearers and accounting officers are held accountable for persistent failures.
“By piloting this collaborative model of joint oversight, Parliament aims to send a clear message that municipalities cannot continue to disregard the law and neglect communities without consequence, while also ensuring that they are supported through the intergovernmental relations framework to fulfil their constitutional obligations,” October said.