By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma says two more municipalities have been declared dysfunctional, taking the total number to 66.
According to Dlamini-Zuma in a written parliamentary Q&A this week, progress has been made in assisting and improving various municipalities in the country, but this hasn’t been felt across the board.
She noted that local government audit outcomes illustrate a gradual improvement, with 141 municipalities receiving unqualified audits for the 2020/21 financial year, which is an improvement from the 126 registered in 2019/20.
Of these, 41 were unqualified with no findings up from the 30 registered in the past financial year, she said.
This is also consistent with the department’s own finding with regard to functioning municipalities, wherein the number of stable municipalities increased from 16 to 30, and the number of medium-risk municipalities decreased from 111 to 107, she said.
“However, there is a concerning trend where the number of dysfunctional municipalities increased from 64 to 66 as per the most recent State of Local Government Report, thus the department is accelerating efforts aimed at guiding and building an ideal municipality, which is a place and space where everyone aspires to live and visit,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma said that her department supports municipalities in various areas of improvement, including but not limited to records management, data management systems to address inaccuracy and incomplete billing, and assisting municipalities with studies on the cost of water service supply.
In September, National Treasury warned that 151 municipalities in the country are teetering on the brink of collapse – while 43 have already collapsed and require urgent intervention to rescue them.
Presenting to the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations, the Treasury noted that of the country’s 257 municipalities, only 58 presented unfunded budgets for the 2022/23 financial year.
“This immediately suggests that 98 municipalities plan to spend more than the revenue they collected, which may include the inability to meet financial obligations. There are 175 municipalities that we’ve identified that are in financial distress, and these are municipalities that might be on the brink of a crisis,” it said.
A total of 219 municipalities meet the section 138 and 140 triggers – suggestive of financial problems and eminent crises with service delivery failures. Above this, 151 municipalities are deemed “bankrupt and insolvent”, and are unable to pay creditors and third parties, including the South African Revenue Service and pension funds.
Dlamini Zuma, has also called for vigilance and caution amid rains experienced in several parts of the country.
This comes after the South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a warning for widespread rain as well as embedded thunderstorms with prospects for rainfall over much of South Africa remaining favourable, especially over the eastern half of the country.