Rhodes University’s Public Service Accountability and Monitoring (PSAM) have called on the provincial government to make an immediate intervention in Makana Municipality as provided by the Constitution when a municipality fails to carry out its duties.
Rhodes University’s Public Service Accountability and Monitoring (PSAM) have called on the provincial government to make an immediate intervention in Makana Municipality as provided by the Constitution when a municipality fails to carry out its duties.
A media statement by Thabani Mdlongwa, PSAM’s local government researcher, said that the Eastern Cape Provincial Treasury’s (ECPT) decision last month to intervene in pervasive weaknesses in the financial management under Section 154 of the Constitution was not going far enough.
Section 139 is a more direct and intensive form of assistance in that it determines a series of measures that may be taken when a municipality fails to fulfil its obligations. The steps range from issuing a directive to the Municipal Council describing the extent of its failure to fulfil its obligations and stating any steps required to meet its obligations to dissolving the Municipal Council and appointing an administrator until a newly elected Municipal Council has been declared elected, if exceptional circumstances warrant such a step.
That ECPT report issued last month identified the following problems in several municipalities, including Makana:
•Lack of reliable information needed to make sound decisions and reporting on its financial status.
•Operational inefficiency in providing municipal services such as delivery of water services.
•General vulnerability of municipalities to fraud, waste and abuse.
“Treasury has realised that municipal support has to be tailor made to suit the needs of each individual municipality,” the ECPT report said, “as they are all faced with different challenges ranging from financial instability, poor audit outcomes, lack of stability in leadership and management.”
It concluded that Makana Municipality would be the first beneficiary of the programme. However, the PSAM statement said that the application of section 139 of the Constitution is the only way to ensure the meaningful recovery of Makana in ways that will address its governance and accountability failings.
“Makana municipality is facing challenges which will not be adequately resolved by the current section 154 support of provincial government,” the statement said.
“To ensure the meaningful recovery of Makana Municipality in ways that will address its governance and accountability failings requires the application of section 139 of the Constitution. The PSAM calls upon Provincial Treasury to revise its position and act as the law requires of it given the compelling evidence available.”
It said the 2012/13 Auditor General’s (AG) report on Makana provides further evidence that a section 139(1) intervention by provincial government is urgently required.
“There is compelling evidence that Makana Municipality has exhibited such challenges for some years now,” the PSAM statement said, “which has resulted in severely compromised service delivery and widespread violations of citizen’s constitutional rights.” It identified the fact that public servants and politicians are not being held accountable for their action or inaction as contributing to “this unacceptable state of affairs”.
The National Treasury has clarified that section 139 interventions would occur if there were contraventions of section 137 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). They include failure to make payments; where municipal expenditure exceeds revenue; where a municipality is operating with a deficit and therefore paying bills from its own coffers (Makana’s was R134 million in the last financial year); where there is late submission of annual financial statements; and where it receives disclaimed audit opinions from the AG.
“Makana municipality certainly meets the criteria requiring a section 139(1) intervention by provincial government,” the statement said.
Makana’s last four audit reports from the AG were disclaimed, indicating the accounts do not contain sufficient information to form an opinion on the municipality’s financial viability.
The most recent, 2012-2013, report further draws attention to a wide range of failures in legal and regulatory requirements. Further, the reports were submitted late.
The PSAM statement likened the situation in Makana to that in Emalahleni and Bushbuckridge, where the capacity to function had “virtually disintegrated”. It ended on a (questionably) optimistic note, however.
“They have since been the subject of Section 139 interventions and are beginning to show signs of turnaround.”
For further information or to view the entire statement please visit the website at: psam.org.za
