Latest news with #Cogta
News24
2 days ago
- General
- News24
Cogta vows to clamp down on illegal initiation schools, after 94 deaths last year
The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Velenkosini Hlabisa, has vowed to crack down on illegal initiation schools after 94 people died last year. Hlabisa launched the winter initiation season in Bloemfontein at the weekend, saying initiation schools have a 'collective duty to safeguard the lives and dignity of all initiates throughout the season'. He said that during the 2024 initiation season, 94 people died, and another 11 suffered amputations due to unsafe initiation practices. He added that incidents were especially prevalent in the Eastern Cape and Free State. Hlabisa reaffirmed the government's unwavering commitment to the full enforcement of the Customary Initiation Act. The minister said his department would be enforcing the mandatory registration and verification of initiation schools, thorough medical screening of all initiates, rigorous training and vetting of traditional surgeons and caregivers, deployment of monitoring units and emergency response services, and strict enforcement of health protocols to mitigate risks such as dehydration and hypothermia. Hlabisa stated that Cogta will work in close collaboration with various government departments to ensure a smooth and well-managed initiation season. 'Registration does not exempt anyone from accountability. Any school that contravenes the law, disregards safety regulations or endangers lives will be closed without hesitation, the law is unequivocal and applies to all,' said Hlabisa. He urged parents, traditional leaders, and community members to all remain vigilant and report any signs of abuse, misconduct, or non-compliance.
Daily Maverick
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Auditor-General sounds alarm on governance crisis in SA's biggest cities, gives Cape Town the thumbs up
Of South Africa's eight metros, only Cape Town was given a clean bill of health by the Auditor-General. Johannesburg, eThekwini and Ekurhuleni received unqualified audits with findings. Buffalo City, Tshwane, Mangaung and Nelson Mandela Bay all received qualified audit opinions with findings. Only 16% of South Africa's municipalities can be trusted to spend public funds effectively — and they account for just 19% of the municipal expenditure budget, says Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke. 'The good news is that we are back to 41 clean audits, which is where we started back in 2020-21, so we're no longer at the 34 that I talked about last year,' Maluleke told MPs in Parliament. 'However, that makes up 16% of the municipalities across the country. That tells you that only 19% of the municipal expenditure budget is being spent by municipalities that will predictably give you the outcomes you hope for, in that they have the disciplines and governance arrangements for you to trust that whatever money you send there will be spent in the way that you expect,' she continued. Maluleke revealed the dire state of local councils in her 220-page report on the 2023-24 local government audit outcomes, tabled to Parliament's Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) committee on Wednesday. In the lead-up to the 2026 local government elections, the state of South African municipalities is shocking: 'While 59 municipalities have improved their audit outcomes since 2020-21 (the last administration), 40 have regressed,' according to Maluleke. 'The messages in the last three general reports of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) have been aimed at the local government administration that took office in 2021 — the mayors, speakers and council members who were elected to represent their communities. We called on them to work with urgency to overhaul a local government characterised by insufficient accountability, failing service delivery, poor financial management and governance, weak institutional capability and widespread instability. 'Despite the commitments made in response to these calls, action has been too slow. Based on the overall audit outcomes in 2023-24, the results from the detailed work that we performed at metropolitan municipalities and local municipalities with repeated disclaimer audit opinions, we can only conclude that little has changed and that local government continues to be in a dire state,' she said. MFMA Report 2023-24 by victoria on Scribd The number of municipalities with disclaimed audit opinions (the worst audit opinion) has decreased from 15 to 14. This is down from 28 in 2020-21, following the local government elections. 'The good news is that the disclaimers are continuing to [decrease]. That is credit to the provincial leadership in most of the provinces that have taken it upon themselves to support new municipalities to come out of disclaimer,' said Maluleke. 'We had 28 disclaimers [in 2020-21], we're now sitting at 14. It's still 14 too many.' She said disclaimer audit opinions were 'undesirable and intolerable', particularly when they related to an individual or an institution that was looking after public funds. Metros deteriorate In 2023-24, metros and their municipal entities were responsible for providing services to 8.9 million households (46% of households in SA) and managed 57% of the estimated local government expenditure budget, according to the AG report. With big budgets and more capabilities, one would expect South Africa's metros to have positive audit opinions. But, Maluleke said, 'the overall audit outcomes of metros have continued to regress since 2020-21' 'The metros, in our view, need particular, urgent attention if we are to get them to become the centres of economic growth and the centres that will make the lives of South Africans better. Right now, it would appear that we don't yet have that.' The City of Cape Town was the only metropolitan municipality to receive a clean audit in 2023-24, while the City of Johannesburg, eThekwini and Ekurhuleni received unqualified audits with findings. Buffalo City, Tshwane, Mangaung and Nelson Mandela Bay all received qualified audit opinions with findings. 'The continued weakening of these metros over time has led to a situation where their financial health has deteriorated — many of them continue to be downgraded, three of them just this year,' she said, adding that it had also led to a situation where their infrastructure projects were not well-managed. Maluleke singled out Tshwane and Johannesburg for not budgeting adequately for the maintenance of their assets. 'The weakening of these institutions is something that we need to arrest — courageously, boldly and urgently so.' Maluleke questioned whether the leadership of these metros included 'the type of people that are equal to the task'. Unfunded budgets The AG told MPs that the 'culture of approving unfunded budgets remains a problem'. In the 2023-34 financial year, she said, 113 municipalities (44%) approved unfunded budgets. Of the 113 municipalities, 86 had approved unfunded budgets for the past three years. 'This [is] despite the fact that the provincial treasury would've reviewed the budget and given advice, or the National Treasury for metros would've given advice. Municipalities continue to approve unfunded budgets. 'It's become a culture,' she said. Maluleke said that when these unfunded budgets were approved, her office still saw unauthorised expenditure. According to her report, the biggest contributors to unauthorised expenditure in 2023-24 were the City of Johannesburg (R2.76-billion), City of Tshwane (R2.15-billion) and Nelson Mandela Bay (R1.44-billion) Accountability ecosystem 'Every single public institution doesn't operate as an island,' Maluleke told MPs. She said that 'beyond the boundaries' of councils, there were responsibilities that lay with the legislature and administration at provincial level. 'When we look at the governance arrangement within the country, we are convinced that if every single player in this ecosystem of accountability did their part well and consistently so, and if every single player was seized with ensuring that they collaborate and cooperate properly, we would have very few governance problems — unlike the situation right now,' she said. It was up to the provincial leadership, including the provincial treasury, Cogta and premiers, 'to set the tone around what is tolerated'. That being said, the role of mayors cannot be understated, according to Maluleke. 'The role of the mayor and the speaker are very important. When mayors do their part, things run well, and when they fail to do their part, things do not run so well.' DM
IOL News
27-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Urgent intervention by KZN Cogta as Mpendle Municipality fails to pay full salaries
The Mpendle Local Municipality failed to pay its employees their full salaries this month. Image: Pixabay The Mpendle Local Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands has failed to pay full salaries and benefits to its workers this month. The revelations have angered labour union federation Cosatu who said they hoped this situation will not occur in other municipalities. The Officer of the Auditor-General South Africa has recently raised concerns about the financial woes of some KZN municipalities. A Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) official stated that in all his years with the department in KwaZulu-Natal, this was the first time he had ever heard of a municipality not paying workers' wages and benefits in full. In a statement, the Cogta department said: "Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has assigned senior officials to engage with the leadership of the Mpendle Local Municipality. This action follows reports indicating the municipality's inability to fully compensate its employees." It said the department has received concerning information regarding the municipality's financial standing, including: Partial salary payments to workers Failure to remit third-party deductions, such as UIF, pension fund contributions, and medical aid payments 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 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. Next Stay Close ✕ The department said these actions have caused unnecessary hardship for the workers in the municipality, who now find themselves without their due compensation and benefits. It said Cogta's senior officials would meet with the municipality's leadership to ascertain the root causes of the financial irregularities and the steps being taken to correct them, as well as to implement consequence management. The department said the MEC remained committed to ensuring that all municipalities within the province adhere to their constitutional obligations and uphold principles of good governance and fiscal discipline. The department said it will implement necessary mechanisms to ensure compliance and accountability. Labour union federation Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said they had been made aware of the situation on Monday.
The Citizen
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
These Gauteng municipalities are lagging behind with their refuse collection bills
The Ekurhuleni municipality recently reported that refuse collection debt stood at R2.3 billion with 35% of customers not paying their bills. Gauteng's municipalities have millions in refuse collection debt sitting on their books. Electricity and water debts extend into the billions, but the cost of move waste from households to landfills is mounting. Gauteng's refuse removal resources may be in the dumps, but non-payment from residents is hampering recovery efforts. Ekurhuleni debt over R2 billion Refuse removal services in major municipalities operate as separate departments with individual budgets and revenue generation objectives. The figures were recently provided by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Jacob Mamabolo in a written response to a question posed in the provincial legislature. The MEC's response was a compilation of information provided by the province's 11 municipalities on how they handled their refuse removal matters. The City of Ekurhuleni has the highest reported debt for waste collection, while other municipalities focused on the percentage of residents not paying for the service. Ekurhuleni reported their total refuse debt stood at R2.3 billion as of February 2025, and that the averages payment rate was in line with other services at just over 65%. The City of Johannesburg reported a payment of 75% of waste management bills, adding that R780 million has been allocated to Pikitup for the financial year to cover bad debts. Johannesburg offers free waste collection at properties valued R350 000 and under, as does the City of Tshwane for residents of informal settlements and indigent households. 'The city indicates that its billing system for waste services to households is not issued separately, thus it is not possible to isolate and allocate unpaid municipal bills to just one line item on a typical municipal bill,' stated Tshwane's feedback. Low payment rates Other smaller municipalities in the province noted that it was difficult to calculate refuse removal as it was lumped together with other services. Those municipalities that disclosed their debts were the Merafong, Lesedi and Emfuleni municipalities. Merafong listed a R19 million debt with a 46% non-payment rate from residents and businesses, while Lesedi reported a R173 million refuse debt, with 60% of residents and 72% of businesses paying their bills. Emfuleni is currently under Operation Shanela interventions after being identified as one of the eight worst municipalities in the country by Cogta. Emfuleni's reported a R615 million debt, explaining that while 52% of those serviced paid their bills, the amounts were problematic. 'The other challenge is that the rate applied to waste is not viable for the municipality. It is too low, and if it were to increase, it would become unaffordable for customers,' Emfuleni's response stated. Rand West City indicated that 31% of residents were not paying for services, while Midvaal had between 87% and 94% of its residents paying their rates. The Sedibeng and West Rand District municipalities did not provide waste management services to residents, while Mogale City stated service charges were billed together. Mamabolo's office was contacted for further comment, which will be added once received. NOW READ: Gauteng's waste collection woes: R1 billion needed for landfills, R60 million for fleets
The Citizen
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
CFO won't be removed: Top job in City of Ekurhuleni stirs clash
Ekurhuleni's mayor called for an intergovernmental relations meeting to thrash out the impasse. In what is set to test the workings of the three-tier cooperative governance in the government of national unity (GNU), Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has raised legal compliance concerns on the appointment of City of Ekurhuleni's group chief financial officer (CFO). In a letter, seen by The Citizen, to Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance, traditional affairs and infrastructure development, Jacob Mamabolo, Hlabisa said the appointment of Kagiso Lerutla, constituted a 'contravention of the Municipal Systems Act and its regulations – rendering it consequently invalid'. ALSO READ: Ekurhuleni mayor slams EMPD officers for alleged intimidation, overtime abuse after illegal strike Hlabisa requested Mamabolo to 'take appropriate steps contemplated in Section 56(6) of the Act to enforce compliance and to submit a report to the minister on the steps that will be taken to enforce such compliance within 14 days from date of this letter'. In a letter to mayor, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, Mamabolo said before making a final determination on Lerutla, he deemed it 'prudent, in the spirit of cooperative governance, to afford your good self the opportunity to express the municipality's views on the minister's correspondence'. City of Ekurhuleni mayor responds Challenging Hlabisa's assertion on Lerutla's appointment, Xhakaza on Sunday called for an intergovernmental relations (IGR) meeting to thrash out the impasse – indicating that the CFO would not be removed. The IGR facilitates interactions between national, provincial and local governments – as well as their institutions – ensuring that various levels of government work together to implement policies, share resources and address issues affecting communities. READ MORE: Gauteng government setting 'terrible example' by owing City of Ekurhuleni R382.3m The IGR ensures cooperation, coordination the effective delivery of services – especially in infrastructure, public health and local development. 'While we acknowledge concerns raised, we believe that the conclusions drawn within the minister's correspondence, lack the totality of the facts surrounding Mr Lerutla's reappointment in August 2024 and the context within which the municipality found itself in at the time,' said Xhakaza. He added: 'His service record reflects a commitment to financial discipline, ethical governance and sustainable fiscal management.'
