Our councils throw money down the drain

The cavalier lack of responsible governance at municipal level could not have been more sharply defined than Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s tabling of the 2015/16 general report on finances.

The profligate irregular spending by municipal bodies has increased by a staggering 50% to R18.81 billion – a veritable pile of cash which should have gone to help the needy, especially with the country in recession and violent protests continuing to mushroom on the non-delivery of services.

The City of Tshwane tops the audited list of shame, having overspent by a massive R786 million in the past financial year – almost the same level as the previous year. It racked up irregular expenditure of R653 million, due in large part to R293 million for an improperly awarded free Wi-Fi contract, and R189 million awarded on a rapid bus transport tender to a contractor not qualified to deliver the service.

The list of squandered public funds across the country extends across bulk purchases, contracted services and losses on the disposal of property and assets and clearly points to a worrying warped culture of non-accountability.

Two things are self-evident: municipalities wallow in a spendthrift mentality and, sooner or later, the money will surely run out.