The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Limpopo has raised a concern over irregular expenditure in municipalities in the province.
Serious problems continue to plague Limpopo councils. This as audit outcomes either not improving or regressing at many municipalities in the province.
Limpopo municipalities spent R280-million consultants.
15 out of 27 municipalities fingered
Recently, Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke’s report revealed that 15 out of a total of 27 municipalities in the predominately rural province paid a whopping R180-million. The amount was declared fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The expenditure on consultants demonstrates massive skills shortages in local government in Limpopo. The province spends the most on consultants in the country, according to the AG’s report.
Mogalakwena municipality in the Waterberg district is the worst spending council in the province. It splurged R44-million on consultants during the previous financial year.
This cash-strapped municipality only appointed a municipal manager towards the end of the 2023 financial year. This was after being without a permanent incumbent for over five years.
The AG reported that over R280-million was spent on consultants to compile annual financial statements. However, the majority of the municipalities got qualified audit opinions.
Consultants got paid for jobs that could be done internally
The EFF, which is the official opposition in the provincial legislature, says several municipalities are teetering on the brink of collapse. This is due to lack of financial acumen.
Fetakgomo Tubatse municipality in the Sekhukhune district splurged R36.6-million. This is the second-highest spender in the province, spent on consultants.
The Collins Chabane local municipality in the Vhembe district was billed R29-million by consultants. This was for jobs that could have been done internally.
Money paid to consultants at the three municipalities was deemed fruitless and wasteful expenditure by the AG. This is despite the consultants walking away with about R100-million collectively.
Lawrence Mapoulo, the red berets’ provincial leader, expressed the party’s concerns. “During the premiership of Stan Mathabatha and his ANC, members of the executive council were committed to lowering the reliance on consultants. And we are yet to see any move towards such progressive direction.
“These failing municipalities, which are deteriorating daily, pay consultants to even do basic tax services for the institution.
“The abhorrent financial situation of municipalities does not permit any further financial commitments. Most councils fail to provide basic services and rely on overcharging consumers and grants,” said Mapoulo.
Grand looting
“These trends of grand looting through consultants must be stopped immediately. We cannot postpone any longer the revolution to build internal state capacity. And also bring an end to outsourced services while graduates are idling at home.
“The effects of cadre deployment continued to yield negative results. These are digging the hole in the public purse, while such deployees are paid for doing nothing.
“The EFF demands nothing other than qualified persons who are capable and skilled. For them to deal with financials of the state. They must be employed fulltime, and no further outsourcing must occur.
“Hiring incompetent people who then hire ineffective financial consultants render the Municipal Finance Management Act ineffective. This is making it impossible to hold anyone accountable for the management of public funds.
“We see failures to do simple bookkeeping in these municipalities. And we demand that the AG report be implemented. So that looted funds can be recovered.”
Call for more qualified personnel
The EFF says it is calling on government to employ more qualified personnel. This instead of overlapping on external entities to do government work.
MEC for Cooperative Governance, Housing and Human Settlement, Basikop Makamu conceded the challenge. He said that part of the problems in the municipalities was a lack of capacity in the finance departments.
Makamu said: “There is a provincial supply chain management forum to capacitate municipalities. This is to mitigate this dilemma on irregular expenditure.
He said the department was organising workshops to capacitate staff members in finance.
