Dear Editor
In yet another resounding endorsement of the DA’s record of service delivery excellence, the Auditor General confirmed once again that DA run municipalities are the best governed in the country. With 19 clean audits, the highest in the country, DA governments have proved that they are managing public funds responsibly, ensuring that every rand is spent in a manner that directly benefits the community.
Despite running 13% of municipalities in the country, either through outright majority or coalitions, 63% of DA run municipalities achieved clean audits. In contrast, with 87% of municipalities in South Africa run by the ANC, only 5% managed to achieve clean audits.
The 2022/2023 municipal audit outcomes are particularly noteworthy because the City of Cape Town is the only metro that managed to achieve a clean audit. The Auditor General commended the City of Tshwane for its improved audit outcome, which underscores the stellar work being done by Mayor Cilliers to turn around the metro after years of gross mismanagement by the ANC. These remarkable achievements underscores the DA government’s consistent focus on transparency, accountability, and sound financial management.
The fact that 95% of ANC-run municipalities failed to achieve clean audits raises serious concerns about the misuse of public funds and the lack of proper oversight. This disparity highlights a systemic issue within ANC governance, where corruption and mismanagement often take precedence over the needs of the people. In many cases, residents in ANC-run municipalities are left to bear the brunt of poor service delivery, crumbling infrastructure, and a lack of basic services, all while billions of rands are wasted or lost to corruption.
There has been significant regression in the audit outcomes of ANC run municipalities, with the AG conceding that clean audits decreased from 38 in the 2021/2022 financial year to 34 in the current financial year. These municipalities are responsible for fruitless and wasteful expenditure which has continued to increase, from R4,89 billion last year to R7,41 billion in 2022-23. The regression comes on the back of R1,35 billion having been spent on consultants.
The DA has bucked this trend and the clean audits reflect a deep-seated culture of accountability within DA-led municipalities, where public officials are held to the highest standards, and there is a relentless focus on ensuring that public resources are used to improve the lives of all residents.
The DA’s ability to achieve clean audits even in challenging environments demonstrates that with the right leadership and a commitment to ethical governance, it is possible to deliver results that positively impact people’s lives.
In contrast to the instability and mismanagement seen elsewhere, the DA’s governments remain focused on building a government that prioritises the needs of residents over political self-interest. Our track record speaks for itself; where the DA governs, people experience tangible progress in service delivery, infrastructure development, and financial sustainability. The audit outcomes and performance reports once again confirm that where the DA governs, we govern well.
Regards
Cathy Labuschagne MP
DA Spokesperson on COGTA
Shay
Fun South African Fact: South African Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant on 3 December 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. The groundbreaking surgery was carried out on Louis Washkansky and Dr. Barnard was assisted by a large and exceptional team of surgeons, nurses and technicians. One of Dr. Barnard’s assistants was Hamilton Naki, a black laboratory assistant who had worked previously as a gardener and went on to work in the animal laboratory at the University of Cape Town. He had assisted Dr Barnard with research leading to the transplant. In the apartheid days, Naki had no access to higher education due to his race. Despite being unable to access formal training, he learned from and assisted university researchers and went on to do improbable work.
Ladybird
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?