Maroc - dailynews.co.za - News - 19/Jan 10:19

Tshwane Mayor criticises previous administration over financial mismanagement

RAPULA MOATSHETshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya has criticised the previous DA-led administration under Mayor Cilliers Brink for failing to address the metro's financial woes, which were highlighted in a qualified audit report from the Auditor-General (AG) for the 2023/24 financial year.For the second consecutive year, the City has received a qualified audit report, and is struggling to overcome challenges in achieving an unqualified audit opinion.The City incurred an adverse opinion in the 2021/2022 financial year, leading to the exit of former Mayor Randall Williams.The AG report revealed the Metro’s staggering R2.1 billion in unauthorised expenditure, which increased from R423 million.In addition, the City's irregular expenditure ballooned to R2.3 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, a marked increase from the R1.9 billion recorded in the previous year.The results emanate from the AG’s annual audit findings, which were recently presented to the City's executive.The audit report shows that Tshwane's overall audit outcome remains unchanged, stuck on a qualified opinion with findings similar to those of the previous financial year.The outcome has fallen short of expectations, despite promises from the former DA-led administration under Brink to improve it.Mayor spokesperson Zintle Mahlati said the AG's report recorded only marginal progress on a few indicators, while seeing overall stagnation on the audit outcome.“Despite claims made by the previous administration, there is little evidence to show that their efforts yielded the expected improvements on the audit outcomes,” she said.Her comment came despite Moya's ties to the previous administration as Brink’s deputy.Brink was ousted in September in a vote of no confidence when Moya's party, ActionSA, formed a coalition government with the ANC and EFF.Mahlati said: “The new administration, led by Executive Mayor Nasiphi Moya, has therefore prioritised an action plan to deal with audit issues that have been flagged by the AG.”She said the administration believes that more work needs to be done to entrench a culture of performance management, accountability and an ethical public service.“The new political executive has tasked the administration, led by the City Manager, to develop a full set of remedial actions to address the chronic issues identified by the AG. We will be receiving this presentation in the coming week, following which we will take residents into our confidence about plans to materially improve audit outcomes,” she said.DA spokesperson for finance in Tshwane, Jacqui Uys, also former finance MMC, expressed disappointment over the City's failure to secure an unqualified audit despite ‘the diligent and intense work that went towards this objective’.“While the AG found that there was a significant improvement in governance and accountability it did point out that this didn’t result in organisational change,” she said.Uys suggested that tough action was needed to ensure this organisational change.She slammed the current government for its lack of oversight, citing the failure to hold municipal public accounts committee meetings aimed at investigating the misuse of public funds.Uys suggested that the current government has dropped the ball by failing to convene an executive audit tracking committee, an oversight mechanism established by Brink.The AG report lamented the fact that further the City incurred significant distribution losses in water amounting to R223 million and in electricity valued at R1.6 billion.Other losses were for solid waste at the cost of R56 million and sewerage at R2 million. “These losses were due to metering errors, revenue unmeasured, unbilled and unpaid," the report said.The AG also expressed concern over the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works's delayed repairs and maintenance that have resulted in the prolonged discharge of effluent into the Apies River and Leeuwkraal Dam, posing health risks.Lex Middelberg, councillor for the Republican Conference of Tshwane, accused Uys of downplaying the severity of the city's audit outcomes.He said: “The AG's presentation is unambiguous that overall audit outcomes have stagnated. The few improvements over the year is by far outweighed by the regression in other areas.”The AG also expressed concerns about the debtors book, which remains qualified due to a significant portion being unsubstantiated.A detailed audit report is expected to be tabled in council at the end of this month.rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za