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- State employees<\/strong> \u2013 Amending schedule 2 section 10 of the Municipal System Act so that it is not only municipal councillors and employees who may not be in arrears with their municipal bills for a period more than three months. This requirement should be extended to all state employees and elected and appointed representatives in other spheres.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- New agency<\/strong> \u2013 The establishment of a District Revenue Collection Agency. This will achieve better collection efficiencies and will free up municipal personnel to focus on more pressing service deliver efforts. SARS systems and processes would be considered in putting this together after due diligence is done.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Procurement changes<\/strong> \u2013 Amending the procurement regulations to make it compulsory for any potential service provider to produce a municipal services rates compliance certificate, prior to being awarded a government contract.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Resolve municipal debts to Eskom<\/strong> \u2013 Nkadimeng said that the municipal debt to Eskom continues to rise without any improvement, the debt owed to municipalities by customers including organs of state is also still rising sharply, and this will worsen under the current Covid-19 impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Fixing municipalities <\/strong><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Audit-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\nData from the local government audit outcomes for 2018-2019 shows<\/a><\/strong> that there was again a regression in the audit outcomes under the current local government administration, now in its third year.<\/p>\n
Over the three-year period, the audit outcomes of 76 municipalities regressed, while only 31 improved. Only 11% of the 257 municipalities getting clean audits.<\/p>\n
Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu said in a conference on Tuesday (8 September) that before South Africa moves to its planned District Development Model (DDM), the country should bring together preventative controls to improve the financial state of municipalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn most instances, when municipalities receive funds, it is seldom that you find proper project plans being developed at a municipal level,\u201d he said. He added that \u2018prevention is so much better than healing\u2019, because it saves the labour of being sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment stakeholders should be asking themselves if they are putting in place all the necessary administrative support functions to help local government achieve its objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state of the country\u2019s finances will be particularly important as the government prepares for the roll-out of its new district model.<\/p>\n
In a presentation<\/a> <\/strong>on Tuesday (8 September), Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that over the past 20 years, local government has not adequately fulfilled its role, especially as it relates to economic development.<\/p>\n
She added that the \u2018pedestrian growth\u2019 which the country has registered over the past decade was \u2018simply not enough\u2019 to ensure employment and income for a majority of people.<\/p>\n
To address these and facilitate for better coordination and integration, government has adopted the new District Development Model (DDM).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DDM seeks to strengthen the local sphere of governance, moving us away from silo planning, budgeting and implementation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dlamini-Zuma said that the new model will provide for a \u2018more tangible, common vision for development\u2019 of the country. She said that government further plans to locate each district\u2019s competitive advantage and \u2018utilise it for shared growth and prosperity\u2019.<\/p>\n
\nRead: ANC on prescribed assets in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
- Resolve municipal debts to Eskom<\/strong> \u2013 Nkadimeng said that the municipal debt to Eskom continues to rise without any improvement, the debt owed to municipalities by customers including organs of state is also still rising sharply, and this will worsen under the current Covid-19 impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Procurement changes<\/strong> \u2013 Amending the procurement regulations to make it compulsory for any potential service provider to produce a municipal services rates compliance certificate, prior to being awarded a government contract.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- New agency<\/strong> \u2013 The establishment of a District Revenue Collection Agency. This will achieve better collection efficiencies and will free up municipal personnel to focus on more pressing service deliver efforts. SARS systems and processes would be considered in putting this together after due diligence is done.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n