Recent meetings with municipalities to discuss their finances were ”a disaster and a nightmare,” the Free State legislature’s public accounts committee said on Friday.
Committee chairperson Abrie Oosthuizen filed a report by the public accounts committee after meeting municipalities during August to consider reports of the auditor general on the financial statements of all municipalities.
”It was really a disaster and a nightmare,” he told the legislature.
But Oosthuizen had a good word for five small municipalities.
”The good news was there were a few municipalities — Tswelopele, Ngwathe, Letsimeng, Nketoana and Mantsopa — [where] the financial administration was not in such a mess.
”I am not saying that everything at these municipalities is up to the required standards, but the officials try their best and they set an example to the rest of the municipalities,” Oosthuizen said.
He said that Matjhabeng, Tokologo, Naledi, Moqhaka, Kopanong, Maluti-a-Phofung, Nala, Dihlabeng, Phumelela and the Xhariep district municipalities were ones where ”almost nothing was in place”.
”Some of these municipalities do not even have the capacity to compile their bank reconciliations on a monthly basis.”
Debt collection is a general problem and the total outstanding debt in the Free State is R3-billion.
Oosthuizen, who is also the Free State’s Freedom Front Plus leader, singled out Matjhabeng and Mangaung as municipalities about which the committee has serious concerns over the handling of tenders, as well as employees and councillors’ interests in companies dealing with municipalities.
”Evidence heard [from Matjhabeng] could not satisfy the committee that the transaction relating to a tender for mechanical equipment was valid, as an amount of R3 151 347 was paid to the contractor three days before he was awarded the tender,” he said.
Oosthuizen urged the provincial government to do more to help municipalities with their financial administration.
”The best municipal manager can not manage a municipality properly without the assistance of an up-to-standard financial department,” he said. — Sapa