MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / North West Spends R344 Million on Consultants While Municipal Failures Persist

North West Spends R344 Million on Consultants While Municipal Failures Persist

ActionSA North West is demanding urgent accountability following a parliamentary response from the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa.

The post ActionSA Demands Answers As North West Spends R344 Million on Consultants While Municipal Failures Persist appeared first on ActionSA.

ActionSA North West is demanding urgent accountability following a parliamentary response from the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa. He confirmed that North West municipalities collectively spent R344 million on consultants during the 2024 financial year. This represents the highest consultant expenditure of any province in South Africa.
This response confirms a worrying pattern of heavy reliance on consultants across municipalities in the province, despite ongoing financial mismanagement and poor service delivery outcomes.

During today’s SCOPA proceedings, ActionSA MPL Masego Kodisang raised serious concerns about continued consultant expenditure in municipalities that remain unable to achieve credible financial management outcomes.

In Tswaing Local Municipality, approximately R17 million was spent on financial reporting consultants, yet still received a qualified audit opinion with material misstatements. Despite this, the municipality incurred R130.4 million in unauthorised expenditure during the 2024/25 financial year, bringing its cumulative unauthorised expenditure balance to approximately R711 million.

MPL Kodisang further questioned why Bojanala Platinum District Municipality spent R29 million on external consultants for financial statements, yet the quality of the statements regressed, with 12 material line items requiring adjustments.

In Moses Kotane Local Municipality, consultant expenditure included R11.4 million for the preparation of financial statements and a further R9.6 million for asset management services, raising similar concerns about the effectiveness and value of these contracts.

ActionSA maintains that municipalities cannot continue to spend millions on consultants while recurring audit failures, unauthorised expenditure and weak financial controls persist year after year.

ActionSA will continue to use all oversight mechanisms available through the Provincial Legislature and SCOPA to demand accountability, expose wasteful expenditure and ensure that public funds are redirected towards improving service delivery rather than sustaining a cycle of dependency on consultants.

ActionSA Athol Trollip: Former DA heavyweight, now a key ActionSA leader in the Eastern Cape.

Category: Tag:

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Fun South African fact

    Dear Editor Fun South African fact: towns like Franschhoek and Stellenbosch are home to world-class wine farms set in stunning, scenic surroundings. Regards Aressa Smith In Response to/From: Luxury Properties Seized in New Lottery Crackdown

  • Condolences on the Passing of Lusanda Dumke

    Statement by Leander Kruger MPL – DA Buffalo City Constituency Leader: The Democratic Alliance in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality mourns the passing of Springbok Women’s rugby player and Mdantsane trailblazer, Lusanda Dumke, who lost her battle with cancer at the age of 28. South Africa has lost an exceptional athlete, a leader, and a source…

  • Rape Kits Delivered, But…

    Statement by Nicholas Gotsell MP – DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice: The DA can confirm that 2 840 rape kits arrived in Cape Town on Monday, following sustained DA oversight and pressure after multiple police stations across the Western Cape were found to be without this critical forensic evidence tool. While this delivery…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fun South African Fact: For an unforgettable bucket-list activity, search for the famous Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) on safari in one of South Africa’s national parks or private game reserves. A South African safari is an experience like no other!

  2. Fundi – expert or teacher [foon-di] A term derived from the Nguni tribe, used to describe someone who is an expert at something.Example: “He’s a fundi at that!”