Ire at R60m lost in irregular expenditure

THE KwaDukuza Municipality has come under fire from opposition parties after it reported millions of rand in irregular expenditure.

The municipality said yesterday its financial reports for the 2019/20 financial year showed that it had recorded about R60 million in irregular expenditure.

Municipal spokesperson Sipho Mkhize said the municipality was concerned about the level of irregular expenditure, adding that it was taking steps to address this disturbing trend.

“Whenever the term irregular expenditure is brought up, the assumption by people is that the money has been stolen. That is not the case in this regard. The money was spent properly, it’s just that normal tender processes had not been followed,” said Mkhize.

He said most of the expenditure had occurred due to emergencies brought on by the recent heavy rains.

“When we are faced with a disaster, often the municipality does not have the time to go out on tender. We have to find a company that can address the situation immediately. For instance, if the Umvoti River floods and damages infrastructure, preventing children from going to school, we have to act immediately.”

He said the council was in the process of finding other means to control irregular expenditure.

“Part of that is to establish a database of the companies that can respond to the crises urgently, these companies will be used on a rotational basis. If there is an emergency that requires temporary shelter to accommodate people, we know there is a company on the list that can do that immediately,” said Mkhize.

Independent councillor Mbusiso Madlala said irregular expenditure was a sign that things were not going right in the council. “We rely on the officials and we expect them to carry out their functions in the correct manner.”

DA caucus leader Madhun Sing said they were also concerned with spending on electricity. “Another area of concern is bulk purchases from Eskom that have shot up by R15m.”