Councils are in financial crisis and corruption is a key cause, Tito Mboweni says
‘All South Africans share the pain of poorly performing municipalities: potholes, broken street lights, roads that flood when it rains, and challenges with electricity‘
The financial problems faced by municipalities are a reflection of weaknesses in governance, or even fraud and outright corruption, finance minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday. “All South Africans share the pain of poorly performing municipalities: potholes, broken street lights, roads that flood when it rains, and challenges with electricity. We are acutely aware that some municipalities are facing serious capacity constraints in executing their plans and programmes,” Mboweni said in his medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS).
In many areas of the country, municipal finances are under pressure. This is the result of the rising cost of delivering basic services and weak financial planning and controls, with poor management decisions leading to underinvestment in and insufficient maintenance of infrastructure. In some cases, corrupt practices have taken root in local administrations, according to the policy statement. In 2018-2019, 113 municipalities adopted unfunded b...
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