Ms Trudie Grové-Morgan sent a press release on 17 August about Mpumalanga municipalities that take an average of 306 days to pay creditors.
Ms Grové-Morgan, DA-spokesman on CoGTA, referred to the Auditor-General (AG) who revealed that it is a contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
Section 65 (2) (e) states that the accounting officer of a municipality must take all reasonable steps to ensure that all money owed by the municipality are paid within 30 days of receiving the relevant invoice or statement, unless prescribed otherwise.
“This results in large sums of interest being generated on our accounts and they often find themselves on Eskom’s and Rand Water’s disconnection list,” she said.
Accounting officers furthermore, are required by section 62 (1) (d) to ensure that unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure is prevented.
Lekwa has tallied up R276 447 425 in interest. “Lack of political will, financial mismanagement, and incompetency because of cadre deployment must be blamed for the mess in our municipalities,” she added.
According to the DA, there is absolutely no justification for residents suffering due to the mismanagement of these municipalities.
