uMkhanyakude in financial tatters
Under provincial administration, uMkhanyakude District Municipality received a disclaimer from the Auditor-General
DESCRIBED as a ‘disappointment’ to the KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) department, uMkhanyakude District Municipality received a disclaimer from the Auditor-General for the 2014-15 financial year.
With the municipality’s books in complete disarray, the Auditor-General was unable to give an opinion.
An IFP councillor is reported to have said uMkhanyakude was the only municipality in the province that received a disclaimer audit, and that it was because the Auditor-General could not find any proof of how monies had been spent and management could not explain.
Provincial Administrator, Bamba Ndwandwe, who was appointed by COGTA in October to run affairs in the interim after serving in the same capacity at Mtubatuba Municipality, said it would take at least two years for uMkhanyakude to dig itself out of its R127-million financial hole.
Ndwandwe’s cost-cutting measures, including no food at council meetings and Internet restrictions, have allegedly not been well received, with some employees choosing to resign.
Ndwandwe said although he is still investigating, it appears as if municipal management was spending more money than the municipality was receiving, rather than it being a case of misappropriation of funds.
Skeleton staff
For no apparent reason, many managers were under suspension, resulting in the municipality functioning with skeleton staff at senior management level. Some of them have since been reinstated.
Ndwandwe said there had been no adequate explanation from those in charge and that there was a level of incompetence within senior management.
Councillors said the only real service delivery was the provision of water.
This after numerous communities within the district protested and rioted since early November over a lack of water.
‘We had no money and were saved by the money that was given as part of the drought relief and we were able to buy tankers and deliver water, although not to everyone,’ said IFP councillor Mandla Zungu.
