JOHANNESBURG - Consultants continue to be a significant financial burden on municipalities.
According to the Auditor-General’s latest report, despite municipalities spending R1.6-billion on consultants, only 39 of the country’s 257 municipalities received clean audits.
Acting Head of Audit at the Auditor-General’s office, Dr Thami Zikode, says many skilled professionals leave municipalities for opportunities in the private sector.
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This often leaves municipalities reliant on consultants to help prepare their financial statements.
"This comes as a problem because this is not sustainable," he says.
"You need your own internally skilled people to be able to deliver on the service," he adds.
According to Zikode, another major challenge affecting service delivery is the maintenance of existing infrastructure and the development of new infrastructure.
He says both infrastructure development and maintenance are progressing too slowly.
"The amounts being budgeted and money spent on that infrastructure is lower than prescribed norms," says Zikode.
National Treasury has prescribed that at least 8 percent of municipal budgets should be allocated to infrastructure maintenance and development programmes.
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"This has not been done," says Zikode.
He warns that underinvestment in infrastructure leads to its gradual deterioration.
According to the Auditor-General’s report, metropolitan municipalities are facing the greatest challenges.
Zikode says this should not be the case.
"That is where the bulk of the budget for municipalities sits," he says.
"They have the money to attract the skills they require."