Latest news with #CashManagementSystem
IOL News
2 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
KZN Finance MEC highlights says municipalities are paying the price for poor national decisions
KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers and provincial treasury's municipal finance chief director Farhad Cassimjee addressing representative of municipalities in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. Image: Bongani Hans KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers, who described himself as a straight talker when it comes to money matters, has blamed the national government's 'bad policy decisions' for the suffering of the municipalities and key provincial government departments. He was addressing mayors, municipal managers, and chief financial officers of seven municipalities who attended a workshop on the implementation of the Cash Management System (CMS) in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. The CMS is expected to help the municipalities monitor and control the movement of money in and out of their fiscal system. He said most municipalities were not interested in their financial flow until they ran out of money to deliver services, service debts, and pay salaries. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading He said the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) inherited a process of budgeting that would 'never get us out of trouble.' He said the province was facing a huge crisis in the education, health and social development, and transport departments. 'Lots of what we are facing now is not out of our own making, [but] it is because post-COVID, and by some really bad policy decisions at the national level, like paying R600 million to state-owned entities when that money could have come to our provincial and local governments. 'We now have R5.7 trillion debt and we have to pay R1.2 billion interest on that debt,' said Rodgers. He said bad policy decisions led to the government failing to save money, but instead, inequitable shares had to be cut by R70 billion over four years. He addressed the municipalities a few hours after the provincial cabinet and Premier Thami Ntuli held a meeting about the state of local governments. 'One of the issues that the premier made clear is that both Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and Treasury, need to ensure that we get clean audits in the entire province,' he said. Rodgers said when it came to money matters, he makes sure that 'there has to be straight talk'. 'There is no grey area when it comes to money, and if you are gonna spend money and you put politics ahead of principles, you are gonna make the wrong decisions. 'But if you put principles ahead of politics, and you implement your Municipal Finance Management Act and Public Finance Management Act, and any other legislations, then you are deciding for the right reasons,' said the DA provincial leader. He said only political will would help the municipalities to transform their pattern of expenditure and patterns of poor fiscal control.
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
3 KZN municipalities to begin system training for better service delivery
3 KZN municipalities to begin system training for better service delivery Three KZN municipalities — uMfolozi, Ulundi and Nkandla — will travel to Pietermaritzburg this Thursday to begin training on the Cash Management System (CMS), a move aimed at enhancing effective service delivery. The training forms part of a broader initiative by KZN Treasury to improve financial efficiency and curb overspending and wasteful expenditure at local government level. ALSO READ: KZN municipalities lauded for clean audits According to Finance MEC Francois Rodgers, the CMS will be rolled out in seven municipalities between now and December. The system is designed to: • Improve service delivery • Ensure timely payments to service providers • Reduce municipal budget deficits 'This CMS roll-out will help strengthen financial accountability at local government level,' said Rodgers. The high-level workshop will bring together mayors, municipal managers, chief financial officers and project champions, who are expected to sign a formal acknowledgement of understanding and commitment pledge. Read the full story in the ZO Weekender Don't have the ZO app? Download it to your Android or Apple device here: HAVE YOUR SAY Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. For news straight to your phone invite us: WhatsApp – 060 784 2695 Instagram – zululand_observer At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
5 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
MEC Rodgers to implement Cash Management System (CMS) for municipal financial stability
KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers. Image: KZN Treasury Facebook FINANCE MEC Francois Rodgers is o a campaign to ensure that municipalities in the province are financially stable and capable of delivering services to their communities. The Department pff Finance announced on Monday that starting in June until December 2025, MEC Rodgers will lead the implementation of a Cash Management System (CMS) at seven municipalities in KZN. One of the municipalities set to benefit from this initiative is the Impendle Local Municipality. It was revealed recently that the municipality failed to pay wages and benefits in full and on time. This situation has raised alarm among employees, who are concerned about the impact on their livelihoods and the municipality's ability to manage its financial obligations effectively. The CMS aims to resolve a myriad of financial management challenges at the local government level, including: Implementation of debt collection and credit control policies. Overspending. Management and utilisation of conditional grants. Ultimately, the department said, CMS aims to improve service delivery, ensure timely payments to service providers, and reduce budget deficits at the local government level, among other initiatives. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ It said this week, MEC Rodgers will convene a high-level gathering involving Mayors, Municipal Managers, Chief Financial Officers, and Project Champions. The targeted municipalities for the implementation of the CMS are: Ugu District. Richmond. uMngeni. Nkandla. iMpendle. uMfolozi. Ulundi. KZN Treasury is constitutionally mandated to monitor as well as support the financial functions at municipalities. The seven municipalities were identified as potential beneficiaries for the CMS after assessments by the KZN system may be extended to other municipalities based on assessments. MEC Rodgers stated: 'KZN Treasury is empowered by section 5 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) to perform oversight, monitor the financial functions, as well as to provide technical support and guidance to assist municipalities by instilling effective financial management practices.' 'The team at KZN Treasury and I are determined to act in accordance with our constitutional obligations so that we may succeed in the mission to establish an ethical and capable state. Municipalities are the closest sphere of government to communities. KZN Treasury is determined to empower and create capacity at municipalities as part of its mandate,' he added. THE MERCURY
