The report by the Auditor-General (AG) on the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s 2024/25 budget revision and recommendations confirms what residents experience daily.
Emfuleni finds itself in a dire predicament marked by financial shortfalls, poor governance, inadequate internal controls and ongoing service delivery failures.
Despite some progress following previous audit findings, the Municipality’s audit outcome remains qualified.
The financial statements reflect material misstatements and recurring control errors. Emfuleni operates on an unfunded budget and faces an acute cash flow crisis, making it impossible to meet short-term obligations.
The report also highlights shocking debt levels. Eskom and Rand Water debt totals R9,19 billion combined, while water losses of 57% equate to nearly R2 billion.
Irregular, unauthorised and fruitless and wasteful expenditure exceeds R7 billion – a clear sign of systemic maladministration and a lack of accountability.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) concurs with the AG: action plans are either implemented slowly or not at all, and consequence management is largely absent. Although five material irregularities have been formally “resolved”, control measures remain fragile and unreliable.
Service delivery is directly affected by this chaos. Only 67% of performance indicators were achieved, with large portions of performance information being unreliable or poorly defined. Critical infrastructure projects – especially sewerage, storm water and electricity – are still backlogged, with serious consequences for residents.
The Municipality’s reliance on expensive consultants underscores the severe shortage of internal capacity.
Essential positions remain vacant, skills transfer is not taking place, and the IT environment is chaotic without strategy, controls or disaster-recovery plans. In addition, a staggering amount of R26,3 million has already been paid to consultants for financial reporting.
The AG’s report leaves no room for excuses. Emfuleni’s crisis does not stem from a lack of resources, but from a lack of political will, discipline and accountability.
The Freedom Front Plus, therefore, demands:
- Immediate stabilisation of management and technical capacity.
- Strict monitoring and enforcement of audit action plans.
- Swift and obvious consequence management regarding all irregular, unauthorised and fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
- Realistic, fully funded budgets focused on recovery.
Emfuleni residents deserve better than constant decay.
This report serves as a final warning: without drastic intervention and actual accountability, the Municipality is inevitably headed for financial and institutional collapse.
Freedom Front Plus Political Position: It is a right-wing political party.
White Swan
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