Weaknesses in infrastructure project delivery and ineffective preventive maintenance are as common in metropolitan areas as in other municipalities, despite having better access to resources.
This is according to auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke in the 2023/24 general report on the local government audit outcomes tabled to parliament on Wednesday.
Of the eight metropolitan municipalities, only the City of Cape Town received a clean audit. The report reveals that most metros did not adequately assess the condition of roads and infrastructure for solid waste and wastewater, and some lacked maintenance plans.
She found that “infrastructure delivery and maintenance are still not receiving enough attention at metros” as there was inadequate budgeting and prioritisation of preventive maintenance.
So what could be the reasons for low spending on infrastructure maintenance? Prof Pundy Pillay from the School of Governance at the University of Witswatersrand said there could be several reasons, the usual culprit being corruption.
“We don’t know how much of this there is in the metros because no-one has investigated it, to my knowledge,” he said.
He said this could also be caused by financial incompetence, as opposed to corruption, even in the metros, which are supposed to be the best-resourced municipalities in terms of human resources.
“I suspect there is substantial overspending and lack of prioritisation on where funds are most critically needed. Third, as with most government institutions, I suspect that too much funds are being allocated to salaries and not enough for other current expenditure and infrastructure,” he said.
Prof Pillay said with the possible exception of the City of Cape Town, all metros were not spending funds in the most efficient way possible. In the case of the local municipalities, the situation varied, but in general, the problem worsened from the cities to more rural areas.
He said in the case of local municipalities, the problem could often be attributed to a combination of inadequate financial and human resources, as well as poverty, which meant many households were not able to pay for services, and municipalities’ failure to spend on infrastructure maintenance may be due to too much spending on current expenditure (salaries and other expenditure) and neglect of infrastructure.
The blatant disregard for financial governance shows that political and administrative leaders in these metros could not care less about their responsibilities to their residents. It is time provincial and national leaders stepped in to save our metros from their current leaders
— Kevin Allan, MD at Municipal IQ
“It’s easier to ignore/postpone capital/infrastructure expenditure until there is a crisis.”
The AG report revealed five metros did not comply with environmental management legislation, including not having valid operating licences for their wastewater treatment works and landfill sites and not maintaining or safeguarding their wastewater treatment works.
“Infrastructure neglect and noncompliance with environmental management often result in harm to the public. Since 2021, we have notified accounting officers at five metros and three municipal entities of 15 material irregularities related to the poor management of wastewater treatment works and landfill sites,” the report reveals.
The failure to pay attention to the infrastructure is largely political. Pillay said, given the constitutional provision of “autonomy”, there was little oversight by national and provincial government on infrastructure neglect.
“It’s easier for metros and other municipalities to ensure that current expenditure is taken care of — this is where the political pressure is — and ignore infrastructure expenditure. It is the role of national and provincial governments to play an oversight role. If they do this properly, they will force municipalities to address the infrastructure deficit,” he said.
Kevin Allan, MD at Municipal IQ, said they were gravely concerned about the poor audit results in the metros, and it was unacceptable that only Cape Town managed a clean audit.
“The unauthorised expenditure in the billions in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay is shocking and shows very poor leadership in these three metros.
“The deterioration of audit results and financial performance in the metros is a sad indictment of the coalition governance prevalent in the metros over the last few years and the immaturity of different political parties vying for power at all costs in many of the metros,” he said.
He added the AG's results were evidence of a clear deterioration in service delivery in the country's metros, a fact apparent to the long-suffering residents of these once-proud localities.
“And the blatant disregard for financial governance shows that political and administrative leaders in these metros could not care less about their responsibilities to their residents. It is time provincial and national leaders stepped in to save our metros from their current leaders,” he said.
Pillay added more efficient budgeting, reducing wastage/corruption to free financial resources for infrastructure construction and maintenance was in order, and there was a need for a more meaningful dialogue with the national government about the related funding issues.
“The oversight role on municipalities [by provinces and the national government] is weak. Too much emphasis is placed on ‘local government autonomy’ and not enough on ‘intergovernmental co-operation’. The constitution demands both from all three spheres of government,” he said.
Improved infrastructure could provide better provision of services such as water and electricity, he said.
“Moreover, if a country has good infrastructure, this will be an important factor in stimulating economic growth and development.
“I think more funds are needed, especially in the rural municipalities. However, in the metros, it’s more a question of ensuring greater efficiency of expenditure, rooting out corruption and ensuring an appropriate balance between current and capital expenditure.”
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