COOPERATIVE Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Thembi Nkadimeng wants the laws regulating municipalities changed to, among other things, entrench good practices and widen responsibility for unauthorised, irregular or wasteful spending.
Nkadimeng last week introduced the Local Government: General Laws Amendment Bill, which seeks changes to the Municipal Systems Act, the Municipal Structures Act and the Municipal Property Rates Act.
The draft legislation proposes additions to sections of the Municipal Systems Act dealing with the general conduct of municipal workers. These aim to stop any financial misconduct and to ensure that billions of rands lost through unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure and other losses is prevented.
Crucially, the measure seeks to ensure that such unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful spending becomes the responsibility of all officials at a municipality, and that so-called consequence management can be applied.
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke’s latest available consolidated general report on local government audit outcomes shows that by the end of June 2022, the accumulated total amount of irregular expenditure not dealt with was R136 billion. Unauthorised expenditure was R107.38bn, while fruitless and wasteful spending amounted to R14.65bn.
In terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act, councils are required to objectively and diligently investigate such expenditure.
Maluleke said neither councils (through their municipal public accounts committees) nor treasuries should write off or condone such expenditure without making sure that no losses had been suffered or that any losses suffered could not be recovered.
Among the bill’s other proposed amendments is a requirement for the Cooperative Governance Minister to maintain records and a portfolio of evidence for dismissed staff, and to adhere to the rules of natural justice.
The bill seeks to empower the minister to receive such a portfolio of evidence, such as resignation letters and disciplinary outcomes, from the provincial MEC responsible for local government before entering a dismissed municipal official into the register.
This aims to avert litigation processes that can ensue should an incorrect entry be effected into the register for officials dismissed for misconduct.
The bill also seeks to include the Finance Minister as one of the parties that must be consulted by organised local government before embarking on any negotiations in the SA Local Government Bargaining Council.
”This is necessary since the Minister of Finance is responsible for the allocation of the equitable share, which most municipalities depend on for operational purposes,” it states.
The bill also provides for dissatisfied councillors to ask the MEC for local government in their province to designate a person to call and chair the meeting of the council in instances where a speaker or municipal manager refuses to call a council meeting.
It also provides that if a mayor vacates office, the mayoral committee appointed by him or her dissolves and the mayoral committee must also vacate office.
Councillors will be prohibited from being members of an executive committee or participating in its activities if they are a speaker, whip or chairperson of a committee reporting directly to the council.
Interested parties have until June 28 to submit written comments on the bill.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za