During the departmental budget vote debate at Fourth Raadsaal in Bloemfontein on Tuesday (15/4), DA Member of the Provincial Legislature, Dulani Leech, added opposition parties find themselves debating budgets where only two departments managed to achieve clean audits in the 2023/24 financial year. 

Free State Finance MEC Ketso Makume delivered the 2025/26 budget for his department, saying the Provincial Treasury is allocated R384 million for the 2025/26 financial year. This amount is disaggregated across various programmes including R133 million for administration, R65.8 million for sustainable resource management, R72.5 million for asset and liabilities management, R34.1 million for financial governance and R78.4 million for municipal finance management.

DA Member of the Provincial Legislature, Dulani Leech. Photo: Screenshot

“While the province is estimated to have an overspending of R1.8 billion and we speak of that as if it’s pocket change – but R1.8 billion. 

“Take the Provincial Treasury’s own numbers of the R384 million allocated to the department, R289 million will be spent on employee costs. That is 75% of its budget spent on salaries.”

She criticised the province’s financial management, pointing out that in the 2023/24 financial year, only two departments managed to obtain clean audits. She stressed that such spending patterns raise questions about the effectiveness and efficiency of public finance management in the province.

Makume acknowledged the problem and emphasised that the department would take a more proactive approach to ensure financial accountability and effective monitoring of expenditures across all departments. 

“Honourable Leech, I’ve made a confession here and made a commitment that we really need to deal with the issue of employee compensation. 

“I even admitted here that it is not sustainable. We really need to do something about it. So we need to become responsible and work smart to ensure these things are dealt with,” he said.

New system

Makume also highlighted the need to strengthen cybersecurity and data management systems, especially in response to repeated concerns from the Auditor-General about missing records.

He said audits had been done, but there is no record when they are needed for accountability. He added that a new system has been implemented to ensure that all expenditures, including spending on functions, are recorded and traceable.

In response to the budget, FF Plus MPL Armand Cloete calculated 77% of the budget goes to salaries. “That may sound excessive, but as the MEC will point out, it’s a human-capital-driven department. And he will be correct.

Audit outcomes

“The programmes include administration, resource management, and financial governance. Most notably, Programme 5 – Municipal Finance Management – aims to ‘improve the state of financial governance and management of local government’.”

Tax-payers thus spend money to help municipalities manage their money better, said Cloete. But he’d seen some of the 2023/2024 municipal audit outcomes, and “it is a mess”.

“According to the Auditor-General, municipal audit results have remained stagnant for three years, despite spending R71 million on reporting consultants – R16 million more than the year before. Every single municipality has been classified as ‘doing harm’.

Solutions

“And out of nine municipalities nationwide that failed to submit financial statements—or submitted them late – six are from the Free State.”

Cloete said the MEC had said the poor performance stems from both a lack of qualified officials and delays in critical appointments. “I agree, but for different reasons.

‘We need meaningful oversight – with real consequences’

“For 31 years, the ANC has shrunk the talent pool by enforcing race-based laws that prioritise skin colour over merit. But there are solutions. First, we as the legislature must strengthen our oversight of municipal finances.

“We cannot rely on dysfunctional MPACs or councils. We need meaningful oversight – with real consequences for non-compliance.

 “Second, it’s time to scrap affirmative action and BEE. We must build a capable state based on merit.”

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi mvh