Co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has expressed concern over R1.4bn in irregular expenditure incurred by the Umzinyathi district municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands in the past financial year.
Speaking at a two-day water summit at Dundee Battlefields Country Lodge on Thursday, Hlabisa warned municipal officials that they needed to shape up.
“It is worrisome that the municipality has an irregular expenditure of such a big amount,” he said, adding that if this money was used fruitfully it would have gone a long way in addressing service delivery challenges.
He said the irregular expenditure was a lost opportunity.
“When we cannot account for money, people suffer,” he said.
Hlabisa said councillors needed to get their act together and start delivering services to the people.
“You need to start delivering now, because if you do not there will be no reason for the community to vote you back into office,” he said.
Umzinyathi has a serious water scarcity and many people in the district still do not have clean water.
Umzinyathi, which has four local municipalities, Umsinga, Endumeni, Umvoti and Msinga, is mandated to provide water and sanitation.
“Officials need to use this summit to come up with solutions to water challenges in the district,” he said.
Hlabisa warned councillors to stop interfering with the work of the officials.
“Officials know their job, I know what I am talking about because I have been a mayor myself,” he said.
Hlabisa said his department was willing to help Umzinyathi turn around its situation.
“The mayor should raise her hand, then we will intervene in terms of schedule 6(b),” he said.
Hlabisa expressed concerns that the municipality has had consecutive bad financial audit reports.
Umzinyathi mayor Thembisile Mchunu said her municipality had set aside R48m to put boreholes into all households in the district.
Mchunu said the district has 61 wards and each ward is allocated R800,000.
TimesLIVE
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