{"id":98051,"date":"2025-05-29T19:23:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=98051"},"modified":"2025-05-29T19:23:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:23:27","slug":"sa-municipal-audit-outcomes-paint-bleak-picture-just-41-of-257-get-clean-bill-of-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/sa-municipal-audit-outcomes-paint-bleak-picture-just-41-of-257-get-clean-bill-of-health\/","title":{"rendered":"SA Municipal Audit Outcomes Paint Bleak Picture: Just 41 of 257 Get Clean Bill of Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/em>
\n29 May 2025 | 17:45 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

South Africa\u2019s Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke reveals only 41 of 257 municipalities received a clean audit for 2023\u20132024.<\/p><\/div>\n

A damning report by the Auditor General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has laid bare the deteriorating state of South Africa\u2019s municipalities, revealing that only 41 out of 257 achieved a clean audit for the 2023\u20132024 financial year.<\/p>\n

In a sobering interview with Radio Islam<\/a>, Vanuja Maharaj, Head of Portfolio at the AG\u2019s office, explained what a clean audit entails. \u201cIt\u2019s about three aspects: accurate annual financial statements, credible performance reporting, and compliance with legislation,\u201d said Maharaj. \u201cClean audits are the foundation for effective service delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, this foundation is evidently missing in the majority of municipalities. With just one metropolitan municipality \u2013 the City of Cape Town \u2013 achieving a clean audit, the findings are, as Maharaj describes, \u201cvery concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AG\u2019s report highlights systemic weaknesses: poor financial management, governance failures, and weak institutional capability. Maharaj stressed, \u201cAs long as you remain in that situation, you probably have an environment where the controls are not great\u2026 there\u2019s probably insufficient accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shockingly, 71 out of 99 municipalities that received \u201cunqualified\u201d audit opinions had to adjust their financial statements post-audit \u2013 a move that signals deeper dysfunction. \u201cThis is not something to celebrate,\u201d Maharaj warned, adding that these municipalities often operate in a \u201ccomfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equally alarming is the nearly R1.5 billion spent on financial consultants by municipalities, often without results. \u201cYou\u2019re still finding errors in that work,\u201d Maharaj noted. \u201cWhat\u2019s the value for money received?\u201d<\/p>\n

The AG’s findings further question the effectiveness of capacity-building and training interventions. \u201cDespite these investments, we\u2019re not seeing the change we desire,\u201d Maharaj said.<\/p>\n

The core reasons for municipal collapse, she pointed out, lie in governance. \u201cIf political and administrative leaders were fulfilling their roles as legislated, we shouldn\u2019t be seeing these issues.\u201d Furthermore, provincial oversight bodies, including Premiers\u2019 Offices and MECs for Finance and Local Government, \u201cdo not act with urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2023\u20132024 audit outcomes should serve as a wake-up call. Without immediate, decisive intervention across all spheres of government, South Africa\u2019s local governance risks total collapse. As Maharaj concluded: \u201cSome municipalities are consistently receiving disclaimers. No records, no accountability \u2013 and yet, no action is taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/a> with Moulana Habib Bobat and Vanuja Maharaj.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 29 May 2025 | 17:45 CAT A damning report by the Auditor General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has laid bare the deteriorating state of South Africa\u2019s municipalities, revealing that only 41 out of 257 achieved a clean audit for the 2023\u20132024 financial year. In a sobering interview with Radio Islam, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":98052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tsakanimaluleke-1000x667-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pvt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 10:07:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}