Tshwane shines at municipal awards for improved financial management

The Tshwane metro was recently recognised for its improved financial management at the second annual municipal audit awards.

The awards were hosted by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and recognised municipalities in Gauteng for their exceptional financial management and compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) for the 2022/23 financial year.

The city’s municipal public accounts committee (MPAC) was awarded first runner-up for achieving a remarkable 21% reduction in Unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure (UIFW) expenditure for the 2022/23 fiscal year.

MPAC Section 79 chairperson and councillor Kholofelo Morodi said the award represented a significant milestone in the committee’s pursuit of financial excellence and ethical governance.

She said that the achievement was a testament to the diligent work of their finance and oversight teams.

“It is also a reflection of the collective effort and dedication of all our municipal staff, leadership, and stakeholders,” said Morodi.

She added that being the first runner-up for municipalities that successfully reduced UIFW expenditure affirmed their commitment to fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability.

The metro received two other awards, which included the most improved revenue collection and debt management at 92% and first runner-up for utilising municipal grants and service delivery at 84%.

Recently the metro approved an MPAC plan to recover R246-million in irregular expenditure during the 2023/24 financial year.

The Section 79A Committee had recommended the recovery of this amount after municipal funds were used without proper authorisation and in violation of the established financial protocols during recent fiscal years.

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Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said that he was pleased that the work and systems that the city put in place have started to show results.

He said that one of the metro’s top priorities has always been to stabilise the city’s finances and to clean up their audit outcomes.

“We expect utilisation of grants and spending on capital expenditure for the 2023/24 financial year to reach more than 90%, as we demonstrate the city’s ability and commitment to spend grants on infrastructure development to improve service delivery,” he said.

Brink said that though there were noticeable signs of improvement towards revenue collection and debt management, residents should note that they will continue to work hard to achieve their benchmark target of 95% revenue collection.

“I want to thank MMC for Finance Jacqui Uys and her team for their hard work as we continue to work towards stabilising city finances,” said Brink.

Uys said that the metro and the political leadership have been committed to stabilising the city’s finances so they could improve service delivery in the coming years.

“We believe that these awards are a good projection of where the city is and what we are doing,” she said.

SALGA chairperson Jongizizwe Dlabathi said that the awards aimed to recognise municipalities that have navigated governance challenges effectively.

He said that the award ceremony served as a pivotal platform for sharing best practices, fostering collaboration, and motivating others to aspire to higher standards of municipal governance.

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