Chairperson for the North West Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Aaron Motswana, says strong action must be taken against municipal officials and politicians who do not comply with important regulations such as the Financial Management Act.

The 2020/21 municipal audit outcomes report for the province shows that only four of the 22 local municipalities, and one of four district municipalities have improved in their audit outcomes.

The Auditor-General has also raised concerns about municipalities’ over-reliance on consultants with some paying as much as R246-million to use them. Motswana says this is unacceptable.

“We feel that the tactic has to be changed, as to how things have been done. We are of the view that unless otherwise people are going to act upon, meaning that cases have to be opened through the SIU and the Hawks as well as SAPS. We want to go further by recommending that there should not be further allocation of equitable share and grants to municipalities that are non-compliant,” says Motswana.

North West seen as one of the most corrupt & mismanaged provinces

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