JOHANNESBURG - Two parliamentary committees have cautioned City of Joburg officials against using regularising or writing off debt as a silver bullet to the metro’s financial woes.
It comes after Joburg Mayor Dada Morero and the municipality’s officials appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) oversight body on Tuesday.
The briefing from the metro leadership focused on its audit outcomes for the 2024/25 financial year and the steps being taken to address governance, financial management, and service-delivery failures.
The City revealed that its Council and entity boards had regularised R45 billion rand over five years.
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In an interview with eNCA, Cogta Portfolio Committee Chairperson Dr Zweli said the committee demanded an explanation from the metro as to how billions in spending were allowed in the first place.
He stressed that regulation should never be seen as a shortcut from the administration.
“It's not just about saying we've regularised, it's about how have you ensured that there's accountability, there's consequence management on those who were involved in irregularities and those who were involved in the unauthorised expenditure and what was the reason for it,” he said.
Zweli cautioned that if expenditure is not properly scrutinised, wrongdoing is not exposed.
Meanwhile, Chairperson of SCOPA, Songezo Zibi, stressed that municipalities are critical levers in creating economic activity and employment, while also delivering services that were, for residents, essentially a human right.
“This will then not be the only interaction that we have with the metro. We are going to travel this journey together until 2029," he said.
In a statement, Director for Mayoral Communications Khathutshelo Mulaudzi said the city has since committed to strengthening procurement planning and contract management to reduce irregular expenditure, accelerating the resolution of UIFWE matters and material irregularities.
At the same time, Mulaudzi said the city intends to enhance risk management and internal controls to proactively identify and address weaknesses. T