The Madibeng Municipal Mayor, Douglas Maimane, blames his officials for the municipality losing out on R146m grant funding. The municipality is one of nine in the North West, returning over R340m to the National Treasury for underspending. The other municipalities that suffer the same fate are the City of Matlosana, Ruth Mompati, Rustenburg, Moses Kotane, JB Marks, Ratlou, Ditsobotla, and Mamusa.
Madibeng, which previously received a disclaimed opinion from the Auditor-General (AG) for the 2021/2022 financial year, is the worst affected, returning R146m to Treasury.
Speaking to the media, Maimane said the most straightforward explanation was the municipality's internal problems and delays in awarding contracts. "The status of our project management unit is dysfunctional and could not rise to the occasion and speedily use allocations, which are some of the problems.
"If you look at the AG's report over seven years, the same has been applicable. We have to put a review on the current unit and make sure those responsible for delays are held accountable,” he stated.
Maimane said, as stipulated in the Municipal Finance Management Act, said the implementation of projects is done by the administration, which speaks to the capacity constraints of the administration.
He said these were longstanding issues that they were addressing. "We're not excited with the outcome, but [we're] taking corrective measures to prepare us for the next financial year.”
"We'll take corrective measures, including consequence management on the officials affected. We are very sorry about this situation and apologize to our residents for such glaring incompetence on the part of our administration," he said.
FF+ Councillor Elsa Lourens said residents would suffer, and the money could've done a lot to alleviate the municipality's water problems. "The grant money is for service delivery projects in the wards,” she stated.
"Our community is hard-hit by Eskom [load shedding], especially in plants operating to get water to communities. Our water problems are still persistent. It's ailing us. Our biggest problem is rural areas, everywhere water is being trucked out, and R146m could've gone a long way in trucking water," Lourens said.
In July 2022, the high court in Pretoria permitted the City of Tshwane to attach the account of Madibeng’s Local Municipality to force it to settle its R258m water debt. The municipality currently owes Rand Water R17m.
Reacting to the news, Cosatu Provincial Secretary Kopano Konopi said the money lost by the municipalities could have gone a long way in providing the necessary services to the people of the North West.
“These grants are funds that have been earmarked to improve service delivery for the province's people and ensure access to essential services. Madibeng was mainly affected by the municipalities as it lost money to R145m. The most significant chunk of this amount was allocated to the municipal infrastructure grant.
"This loss of money by the municipalities is disappointing considering that the province has a severe service delivery deficit. The province needs to afford the municipalities' uninspiring performance to persist.
“As Cosatu, we view this as a lack of capacity from those deployed to ensure services are delivered to the province's people. We also view this as dereliction of duty by those employed to provide services," Konopi said.
