Mayor seeks quality service
Stability on all fronts the key
WHILE almost half of South Africa’s R28.33billion irregular spend was accumulated by Eastern Cape municipalities in the past three years, Buffalo City Metro has improved its books.
Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu revealed in May that municipalities such as the OR Tambo district in Mthatha and the Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela metros were among the top 10 worst offenders in the past three years.
In the past three years, the city’s irregular expenditure was at R584million – something that mayor Xola Pakati hopes will never be repeated as the money irregularly spent results in service delivery being compromised.
The metro received an unqualified audit opinion in the 2016-17 financial year.
“This reflects an improvement on the previous years and shows continued focus by the institution on good governance.
“This overall audit outcome proves that our work in stabilising the institution is beginning to bear fruits,” he said.
The R584-million irregular expenditure was despite BCM’s books showing a marked audit improvement compared to the previous year as it moved from qualified with findings to unqualified with findings in 2016-17.
The mayor said to ensure the city does not regress, a number of stringent measures had been put in place which would translate into improved service delivery.
These include strengthening political oversight and appointing a new audit committee so that irregular expenditure would be nipped in the bud.
“While the auditor-general made a positive observation that our supply chain management environment has improved, we are still working hard to ensure that minor transgressions are eliminated.
“We believe that this will also go a long way in improving the perception of our procurement processes,” he said.
And in most cases, especially at local government level – there are always allegations of political interference in administrative affairs.
But Pakati said his administration had made it clear that politicians should never meddle in administrative affairs, while managers should manage and workers work. “Through a variety of interventions that we deployed, we can report that the odd culture where workers were too involved in managerial decisions, managers too involved in political affairs and councillors too involved in the administration, is beginning to disappear.
“The metro growth and development strategy commits us to improve the governance of our city by ensuring that we create a stable political and administrative environment through a sound political and administrative interface.
“We have a very cordial relationship with the unions in our city and we must appreciate the fact that they prioritise service delivery,” he said.
The mayor said ensuring good governance was the order of the day needed an all hands on deck approach, where everyone should play their bit. One of the city’s plans of promoting good governance is the establishment of municipal courts.
Once established, the municipal courts will hear cases that may impede on good governance. The metro has already advertised positions for the municipal courts.