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The joint parliamentary oversight delegation concluded the first day of its engagement with Eastern Cape municipalities with a firm call for greater accountability in local government.
The delegation comprising the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General engaged with the province’s two metros, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the Buffalo City Metro, as well as the Amathole District Municipality on Monday. The delegation, in collaboration with the Eastern Cape provincial legislature, is this week engaging with 19 municipalities in the province about their challenges and ways to address them.
Following presentations by the MECs for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the MEC for Finance in the Eastern Cape, the delegation expressed concern over persistent governance failures, weak accountability and the slow pace of reform in the province’s municipalities.
The leader of the delegation, Dr Zweli Mkhize, told the provincial leadership that local government cannot continue to operate on “paper reforms and rhetorical commitments”. He bemoaned repeated audit disclaimers and financial mismanagement across several municipalities and said this shows that interventions have failed to yield sustainable results. “When the same findings repeat year after year, it means our actions have not succeeded,” said Dr Mkhize. “Oversight must lead to change, not repetition.”
Both the MEC for COGTA and the CFO of the Provincial Treasury urged municipalities to restore fiscal discipline, strengthen internal controls and implement consequence management for transgressions. They also stressed that political leaders must prioritise service delivery over factionalism and that restoring financial health is central to rebuilding public trust.
Members heard that only six of the Eastern Cape’s 39 municipalities achieved clean audits. Thirty of these municipalities are also categorised as distressed and subject to intervention in terms of Section 154 of the Constitution.
Dr Mkhize cautioned that recovery and support plans for municipalities should not just be mere administrative exercises but must function as measurable performance tools. He called for a written report of all actions taken to address long-standing challenges and not just verbal assurances. He also warned that these repeated failures erode public confidence.
Referring to Section 216 of the Constitution, Dr Mkhize said municipalities that persistently breach financial management laws must face investigation and sanction. “If no investigations have been undertaken, we must ask who is being protected and why,” he said. He also urged the department of COGTA, National Treasury and sector departments to improve coordination and not work in silos since progress and change are delayed when oversight is fragmented.
Dr Mkhize emphasised that political power without economic inclusion continues to constrain the province’s development and urged municipalities to include economic and social investment in their recovery plans. “Each failed project represents a lost opportunity for growth and dignity,” he said.
The joint delegation resolved that all municipalities and departments must submit detailed written reports within 14 to 30 days, including updates on audit findings, debt recovery, consequence management and infrastructure projects.
Five more municipalities, including Sundays River, Makana, Koukamma, Blue Crane Garden Route, and Inxuba Yethemba local municipalities, will appear before the joint delegation today.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.