This is according to Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs MEC, Mmoloki Cwaile.

Tabling his department's 2021/22 budget in the Provincial Legislature on Tuesday, Cwaile said they have noted several challenges faced by municipalities in the province, including how they battle to provide adequate services to communities. 

He says many are still plagued by political instability in Councils, high vacancy rates in strategic positions, and inability to generate revenue, amongst other issues. 

Presenting his R674 million budget, Cwaile announced that the bulk of it will go towards addressing challenges faced by local government. He told the House they have intervened in many municipalities and will be intensifying their efforts where there seems to be a lack of progress.

The chairperson of the department, Aaron Motswana, has meanwhile told Cwaile and Premier Job Mokgoro that more needs to be done to "rescue the already collapsing municipalities".

He said they urgently need to address challenges at the Ratlou-, Ditsobotla-, Mahikeng-, and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipalities as the province is seeing more and more disgruntled residents in these areas.

Cwaile was further told to take note of the Auditor-General's (AG) report and how municipalities in the province continuously fail to produce clean audits. 

In the latest local government report, the AG indicated how municipalities in the province battle with sound management and financial controls, stating that many are still crippled by their R314 million investment in the now liquidated VBS Mutual Bank.

OFM News