Water losses and debt collection trouble for iLembe, Auditor General reports
Water losses of R106-million were recorded in the financial year.
The iLembe district municipality has received a third consecutive unqualified audit, but continues to face issues around water losses and poor debt collection.
Enterprise iLembe, a division of the municipality, also saw an unqualified audit, with both reports delivered virtually by Auditor General senior manager, Martin Coates, last week.
While calling the financial health of the municipality sustainable, Coates highlighted issues of debt recovery.
“The debt collection period at 228 days is relatively high to the norm of 90 days. In terms of expenditure, the creditors payment period was calculated at 67 days. The entity ended the year with a surplus and 18% of the next year’s budget will be used to pay for the previous year,” he said.
Water losses of R106-million were recorded in the financial year.
Irregular expenditure decreased, while the municipality saw R7.3-million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure as a result of project delays and ongoing contractual disputes.
iLembe mayor Thobani Shandu and municipal manager Sazi Mbhele welcomed the report and committed themselves to improving debt collection issues and addressing repeated findings.
The mid-year performance report was tabled in the same council meeting last week and saw the same problems highlighted as in the annual review.
Debt continues to rise, with a collection rate of 44% recorded as of December 2022, which has decreased from a 51% mark at the same time in 2021.
“There is a need to put more effort into the collection rate and we have discussed this at management committee to come up with a revised action plan to get the rate to a more acceptable level,” said iLembe financial officer, Mahendra Chandulal.
Follow The North Coast Courier on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for breaking news
Telegram Broadcast Service: https://t.me/joinchat/yJULuN8NaCs5OGM0
WhatsApp Broadcast Service: Add The Courier to WhatsApp at 082 792 9405 and WhatsApp your name and surname to be added.
