Parliament, Wednesday, 28 January – The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), together with the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General, yesterday began a joint oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal that will end on 30 January. The visit focuses on municipalities identified by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) as distressed or dysfunctional.
An AGSA briefing on the 2023/24 local government audit outcomes revealed persistent weaknesses in municipal governance. Nationally, only 41 municipalities (16%) achieved clean audits.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Mr Zweli Mkhize, said the AGSA findings confirm that weak consequence management remains a key driver of poor municipal performance. “There has been slow or inadequate investigation of financial misconduct, failure to decisively address unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and continued non-compliance with legislation. These challenges are compounded by weak political and administrative leadership,” Mr Mkhize said.
He added that previous national and provincial interventions have not yielded sufficient improvement, necessitating a sharper oversight focus. The committees will place particular emphasis on accountability and consequence management on the part of provincial political leadership, including the Premier and the MEC responsible for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
During the visit, the committees are interrogating the root causes of audit irregularities, actions taken against transgressors, corrective measures implemented following the 2023/24 audit outcomes, steps to prevent recurrence and consequences where commitments are not met.
In his opening remarks, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Mr Thami Ntuli underscored the importance of local government in service delivery and democratic governance. “Local government is the sphere closest to the people. Capable and functional municipalities are central to a developmental state and to restoring public confidence in government,” Premier Ntuli said.
The Premier noted that strengthening local government performance is a priority of the Government of Provincial Unity and cited the Premier’s Msunduzi Working Group as an example of targeted provincial intervention. He confirmed that several matters related to consequence management have been referred to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for forensic investigation.
The MECs responsible for COGTA and for Finance reported that material irregularities increased from 60 in 2022/23 to 65 in 2023/24. During the same period, 45 material irregularities were resolved, compared to 27 in the previous financial year. Twenty cases remain unresolved or in progress and are subject to quarterly monitoring. Municipalities with unresolved material irregularities include uMkhanyakude, Msunduzi, Harry Gwala, uThukela, eThekwini, uPhongolo, uMvoti and uMgungundlovu.
The committees emphasised that the oversight visit is intended to strengthen accountability, improve governance and support sustainable service delivery at local government level.
Following engagements with municipalities including Mandeni, Mposana, Umzumbe, Inkosi Langalibalele and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, the committees stressed that identifying shortcomings must be followed by decisive corrective action. Where wrongdoing is established, investigations must be concluded, accountability enforced and systems strengthened to prevent recurrence.
The committees further raised concerns about weaknesses in planning, budgeting, record-keeping and the over-reliance on consultants, calling on municipalities to build internal capacity and ensure the efficient use of public resources.
Key service delivery challenges, particularly billing system discrepancies and water provision, will be closely scrutinised. Municipalities are required to account for water costs, procurement processes and long-term solutions, including the use of water tankers. The committees welcomed the referral of alleged corruption in water services and supply-chain processes to investigative bodies such as the SIU.
The committees also raised concerns about governance failures, including corruption, unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and electricity losses, and called for clear reporting on consequence management and law-enforcement referrals arising from the Auditor-General’s findings.
They further called for urgent corrective measures to address stalled infrastructure projects, supply chain weaknesses and critical technical vacancies, and directed the municipality to submit a post-audit action plan through the provincial executive for ongoing parliamentary oversight.
Concerns were also raised about high expenditure on councillor security and other non-core items. Municipalities will be required to justify such spending and demonstrate measures to curb wasteful expenditure and prioritise service delivery.
Mr Mkhize said the committees are encouraged by the commitment shown by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature, led by Speaker Ms Nontobeko Boyce, which is actively exercising its oversight mandate and engaging constructively with the process. He said the committees also note with appreciation the action taken by the provincial executive, led by Premier Thami Ntuli, including the establishment of internal mechanisms to enable early intervention where risks are identified.
The committees thanked the provincial leadership and municipalities for their cooperation and reiterated that the oversight visit seeks to strengthen accountability, improve governance and ensure the effective use of public resources in support of sustainable service delivery.
DETAILS OF THE OVERSIGHT VISIT
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Venue: Pietermaritzburg City Hall (daily)
Time: 08:00 (daily)
The committees will engage with executive mayors, speakers, municipal managers and chief financial officers from the following municipalities:
- Ugu District Municipality
- Amajuba District Municipality
- Newcastle Local Municipality
- uThukela District Municipality
- uMkhanyakude District Municipality
- Mtubatuba Local Municipality
- Umzinyathi District Municipality
Thursday, 29 January 2026
Engagements will be held with:
- Endumeni Local Municipality
- Nongoma Local Municipality
- Nquthu Local Municipality
- Msunduzi Local Municipality
- Mhlathuze Local Municipality
- Impendle Local Municipality
Friday, 30 January 2026
The committees will conclude the oversight visit with engagements with the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma District Municipality and traditional leadership.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, MR ZWELI MKHIZE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the committee Chairpersons, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malentsoe Magwagwa (Ms)
Cell: 081 716 5824
Email: mmagwagwa@parliament.gov.za
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