This is according to the Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke's presentation of her report, tabled before three committees, namely the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the Select Committee on Appropriations. 

Addressing Members of Parliament (MPs), Maluleke says the municipalities in the province continue to record disclaimer audit opinions whilst the lack of service delivery and performance deteriorate. Maluleke has blamed this on what she labels as significant leadership instability, which she says is continuing to deteriorate.

“There seems to be a culture of tolerating lawlessness across municipalities, with a lack of consequences at these municipalities. “Municipalities are not preparing to deliver services to communities and that is detrimental to these communities which are supposed to be served, Maluleke adds.

She says many municipalities across the country continue to adopt unfunded budgets and spent money which they don’t have.

OFM News previously reported that the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Cooperative Governance at the North West Provincial Legislature, Aaron Motswana, told OFM News that municipalities in the province are not complying with the legislation which governs them and are also battling with issues such as irregular expenditure, amongst others.

“There is a high level of ill-discipline with people being suspended left, right and centre without following due processes. There is also the appointment of senior managers as directors without proper procedures. We wanted to know how the department was going to intervene and react to non-compliance, and how the department was going to handle issues such as revenue enhancement, Motswana added.

ALSO READ: NW: Portfolio committee excited about turnaround plan for municipalities

Meanwhile, the North West Provincial Treasury - under the leadership of MEC Motlalepula Rosho - has, according to the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, successfully established a MuniMEC for the 6th local government administration. According to Rosho, this Act, amongst others, requires national, provincial and local governments to facilitate coordination in the implementation of policy and legislation.

“I encourage you to move forward with the political leadership mentality of champions, which will drive the realisation of service delivery to our people, with a focus on the DDM as all government spheres will be working together. This platform (MuniMEC) as we launch, will focus on key activities that will be unfolding in the next three months, which amongst others, will include the adoption of municipal budgets and the submission of financial statements to the Auditor-General,” Rosho says.

OFM News