South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the government is concerned about the deteriorating financial situation of local authorities after only 38 out of 257 municipalities carried out their audits.
The results of the municipal audit for 2021/2022 were published on Thursday by the Auditor General, Tsakani Maluleke, who pointed out that the situation of the local government had deteriorated in all areas.
This difficult situation is expressed by a drop in own audits, as well as an increase in irregular expenditure to 30 billion rands (more than 1.5 billion dollars).
Ramaphosa said the Auditor General’s findings are serious and require a coordinated response to the great needs of the public and the continuing failures in service delivery.
Ramaphosa explained that efforts to improve the lives of South Africans “will only succeed if we effectively address the challenges of local government”.
Similarly, the South African president explained that there is a clear correlation between achieving good audit results and improving services to communities.
The Head of State pointed to another major challenge for local authorities, which is the under-spending of funds, as many municipalities often do not spend the subsidies allocated to them by the national government. In the last year, for example, some 88 municipalities failed to spend at least 10% of their municipal infrastructure grant.
Mr. Ramaphosa also called on citizens to play their part by paying for the basic services they receive, pointing out that companies and government departments must also settle the debt owed to municipalities.