By Celani Sikhakhane
The ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal chairperson, Sboniso Duma, has caused an uproar by saying that municipalities returning clean audit reports shouldn’t be of any concern to mayors.
Audit reports show the financial state of a municipality. The Auditor General (AG) checks all municipalities every year on how they have used their funds from the national Treasury and whether they have awarded any tenders. The subsequent audit can show any irregularities and indicate corruption or irregular spending of public funds. The AG can refer those municipalities that fall short to law enforcement.
Having a clean audit, however, doesn’t appear to concern Duma. He was filmed making the comments during an address to ANC cadres in Pietermaritzburg last week Tuesday. His speech has since gone viral and elicited criticism on Twitter.
“You will find revolutionaries if they are not well conscientised thinking that getting a clean audit is more important than bringing service delivery,” he declared.
“You need to balance the equation because our people need services, not clean audit
reports.”
This contradicts a view held by his boss, Premier Nomsa MaDube Ncube, who raised concerns in June over the negative audit reports of KZN municipalities, which she claimed affected service delivery.
Some municipalities in KZN are also on the verge of collapse, according to Auditor General Tsakane Maluleka.
Duma made the comments in the uMsunduzi Local Municipality, which has been distinguished by having negative audit reports and attempting to file falsified data.
The municipality owed R820 million to uMngeni Water and R320 million to Eskom.
Other municipalities have also failed to assist flood victims due to their failure to balance their audit books.
Pictured above: Sboniso Duma
Image source: Supplied
