Parliament, Tuesday, 17 September 2019 – The Northern Cape permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) were shocked to learn that the province’s municipalities had the highest vacancy rate in the country, their irregular expenditure had increased to R624 million while their debt to Eskom stands at R1.3 billion.

As of July 2019, the Northern Cape’s bulk municipal debt to Eskom escalated from R192 million in 2015, to R1,3 billion in 2019 - which is an escalation of about 577% in four years. Prior to 2011 there was no municipal debt but currently four municipalities (Kai Garib, Gamagara, Siyancuma and Tsantsabane) owe Eskom R639 million for bulk electricity supply.

In his recent report, the Auditor-General, Mr Kimi Makwetu, flagged the lack of accountability as the major cause for poor local government audit results, with this year’s results showing an overall decline.

In the Northern Cape, irregular expenditure remains high, with the annual irregular expenditure having increased from R349 million in 2016, to R624 million currently. This figure is incomplete as 20 of the 31 municipalities (77%) were either qualified on incomplete disclosures or are still investigating the full extent of the irregular expenditures disclosed.

The NCOP delegates, accompanied by their provincial legislature counterparts, are back in the Northern Cape this week to conduct oversight as part of the first Provincial Week of the sixth democratic Parliament, under the theme: “Building sustainable, responsive and people-centred municipalities”.

NCOP Northern Cape Provincial Whip, Anele Gxoyiya, said following a visit to the 11 municipalities with adverse findings, they will compile a report to be tabled in the NCOP for further intervention “in a quest to improve the situation”.

“We are of the firm view that there is a need to eradicate unauthorised and irregular expenditure, as well as improve the levels of accountability in local government. All municipalities have a responsibility to ensure that there is consequence management for poor performance in the interest of improved service delivery,” he said.

Northern Cape Premier, Mr Zamani Saul, said the province is already considering various proposals, which include creating a single structure that will coordinate all monitoring in order to bolster its monitoring mechanism over the municipalities. “These include using the Premier’s inter-governmental structure to monitor the municipalities, provide a platform for municipal managers to report on progress, capacitate the districts and use them as coordination hubs,” he said.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCIAL WHIP TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES, MR ANELE GXOYIYA. 

For interviews with Mr Gxoyiya, please contact:

Modise Kabeli
Cell: 081 715 9969