ANCYL North West slams Madibeng mayor for celebrating ‘mediocrity’

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in North West has slammed Madibeng local municipality mayor Douglas Maimane for celebrating “mediocrity at the expense of accountability and good governance”.

The embattled mayor came under fire recently after his municipality circulated a poster congratulating him for achieving a qualified audit opinion.

Maimane’s municipality has been receiving an adverse opinion audit for years — so a qualified audit seemed to be some kind of achievement.

“Congratulations are in order!” read the poster circulated on social media.

The youth league, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said it was disappointed by the municipality's recent actions.

“While the municipality’s audit outcome may indicate some progress, a qualified audit opinion is far from an achievement that warrants celebration. It highlights significant shortcomings in financial management, governance and accountability within the municipality.

“These deficiencies should not be brushed aside or treated lightly, as they undermine the trust that residents place in their local government to deliver services efficiently and transparently.

“The ANCYL believes that the executive mayor should instead be focused on addressing the issues that led to the qualified opinion. This includes improving financial management systems, eliminating corruption and ensuring better service delivery to the people of Madibeng. Celebrating mediocrity at the expense of accountability and good governance is a disservice to the community.”

The league said the municipality's youth “deserve better leadership” and called on the mayor and his officials “to shift their focus from celebrating inadequate outcomes to taking tangible actions that will result in unqualified audit opinions in the future”. 

“The ANCYL will continue to hold all leaders accountable to ensure that local government serves the people with integrity, transparency, and effectiveness.”

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