R15m spent – same failures exposed

By Emily Setona

QWAQWA – Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality is spending about R15 million on annual audits while repeatedly failing to act on the very findings those audits expose, triggering fierce criticism from councillors over weak oversight and the absence of consequence management.

The explosive criticism came during an ordinary council meeting on Thursday, 6 August, where councillors across the political divide confronted the municipality’s recurring governance and financial management failures outlined in the Auditor-General’s 2024/25 report.

The report again highlighted shortcomings that have plagued the municipality for years, raising questions over why millions continue to be spent identifying problems that remain unresolved.

Presenting the audit outcome, Auditor-General representative Tshehla Lephoi outlined the municipality’s findings, with councillors warning that failure to implement recommendations was allowing the same problems to return year after year.

EFF councillor Mahlomola Majake said the report reflected a familiar pattern of failure.

“As I was listening to the AG, it was like we were not listening to a disclaimer. The presentation speaks to the lack of consequence management,” said Majake.

DA councillor Alison Oates said the municipality had repeatedly failed to act on Auditor-General recommendations, arguing that stronger legislative intervention was needed.

“The failure of MPAC is that we give this report to them but there is no consequence management. This municipality is not capable of implementing your recommendations, so we need you to exercise your legislative powers,” she said.

Chief Whip Moeketsi Lebesa said the report confirmed that the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) had failed to investigate irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

He warned that without clearly identifying those responsible for financial misconduct, residents could wrongly blame the current council for failures inherited from previous administrations.

“If we do not indicate who is responsible for this wasteful expenditure, our community believes it is this current council. Yet we are dealing with a legacy here,” Lebesa said.

The debate intensified when audit committee member Sidwell Mofokeng questioned the value of repeatedly paying millions for audits that continue to identify problems already known to the municipality.

“We pay R15 million to the AG to tell us what we already know,” Mofokeng said.

He described the absence of effective oversight as the municipality’s biggest threat.

“The biggest threat to Maluti-a-Phofung is the municipality itself,” he said.

Councillor Teboho Mohlekoa blamed the municipality’s continuing decline on the failure to implement council resolutions.

“The municipality is where it is today because council resolutions are not implemented,” he said.

Council Speaker Mandlenkosi Dlamini, meanwhile, challenged councillors to raise their concerns inside council chambers rather than on social media.

“I thought they should express their views here and now,” Dlamini said.

Executive Mayor Tumelo Thebe acknowledged the municipality’s troubled financial history but said the fact that it was now being audited represented progress.

“In the past this municipality was unable to be audited. But this is a green light because we are being audited,” he said.

Thebe also acknowledged that many of the municipality’s problems were historical, while pointing to the withholding of part of its equitable share by National Treasury as evidence of the consequences of poor financial management.

“As a council we need to take the bull by the horns,” he said.

But the central question remains: how many more millions will be spent documenting the municipality’s failures before those responsible are held accountable?

With councillors acknowledging that Auditor-General findings continue to recur because recommendations are not implemented, the latest audit debate has once again placed consequence management, political oversight and financial accountability at the centre of Maluti-a-Phofung’s governance crisis.