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Treasury experts to intervene as Free State municipalities face audit crisis
In a decisive move to address the dire state of municipal governance in the Free State, Provincial Treasury will begin deploying skilled experts to struggling municipalities across the province.
Bloemfontein Courant reports that the intervention, announced by Free State MEC of Finance Moses Ketso Makume, comes after growing concerns over poor audit outcomes revealed in the latest Auditor-General's report.
Speaking during the first day of the oversight visit by the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs last Thursday, Makume said the deployment of internal experts is intended to strengthen financial and administrative governance where it is most needed.
'We are obviously concerned by the Auditor-General's report, but it is also an opportunity to improve governance in our municipalities so that they can do what is expected of them – provide services to the people,' said Makume.
Not a single municipality in the Free State received a clean audit in the most recent reporting cycle.
One of the most troubled municipalities, Nala Local Municipality was singled out for its instability after operating with two CFOs and two speakers simultaneously. This administrative chaos led to community unrest and recurring service delivery protests. In response, Amos Goliath has since been appointed as an administrator to stabilise the institution.
Makume emphasised that relying on costly external consultants had failed to produce results, with no municipality achieving a clean audit despite the financial investment.
'We are going to make use of internal capacity to assist our municipalities and lift them out of this rot. This approach will empower local administrations and help save money,' he said.
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