The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, marked his 100 days in office as the leader of the CoE.
He reflected on his tenure, which remains rocked by service delivery issues.
Just recently, the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) – the office tasked with monitoring how taxpayer’s money is spent – found the CoE had regressed from a clean audit in the 2021/22 financial year to an unqualified audit in the 2022/23 financial year. This means the CoE produced quality financial statements but struggled to produce quality performance reports and/or comply with all key legislation.
The Auditor-General’s report said the CoE’s unqualified audit with findings was due to procurement issues.
Auditor-General head Tsakani Maluleke said the underperformance of big metros like the CoE is attributable to political and governance instability.
The CoE has been governed through coalition partnerships between various political parties since 2016 and has seen changes to the mayorship and senior MMC positions due to political squabbles for power.
Addressing the media, Xhakaza said the city still faces challenges with revenue collection.
Finance MMC Jongizizwe Dlabathi echoed the mayor’s comments about under-collection for the city’s coffers, saying residents must pay for services so the city can provide and sustain services for communities in the metro.
