Regardless of Msunduzi Native Municipality’s denial that it failed to fulfill the Auditor-Normal’s deadline for submission of monetary statements, the intervention staff assigned by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli to probe the collapse of governance within the embattled municipality desires readability.
The staff, which is named the Premier’s Working Group (PMWG), is beneath the stewardship of former Finance MEC Ravi Pillay. The alleged breach by the municipality was raised by Umkhonto weSizwe Occasion (MKP) in a press release issued on Tuesday, the place it known as for pressing motion and consequence administration towards the 9 municipalities for the breach. Msunduzi was among the many checklist launched by the MKP.
Reacting to the information, Pillay stated regardless of the municipality disputing the MKP’s assertion, he’ll, nonetheless, meet the municipality and interact additional on the matter.
“The PMWG will have interaction the municipality additional and the matter will discover expression within the monetary sustainability work stream that shall be arrange quickly,” stated Pillay
The municipality in Pietermaritzburg is at the moment beneath the highlight of the provincial authorities which final month was compelled to intervene and appointed a seven-member staff led by the previous Finance MEC Ravi Pillay to repair governance points within the municipality.
The municipality’s spokesperson, Nontobeko Mkhize, denied that the municipality had excellent monetary statements, saying the delays had been attributable to an objection which was lodged by the municipality that has since been resolved, ensuing within the tabling of the monetary audit report within the council.
The PMWG, much like the eThekwini Presidential Group, was appointed in February as a part of the brand new Part 154 intervention measures following a report by Cooperative Governance and Conventional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi in October final yr which stated the municipality’s governance was deteriorating. The group is anticipated to current its first report on Friday.
The municipality had been beneath administration for greater than 5 years and to the shock of the many individuals, together with the opposition events, it was lifted out of administration in April final yr.
In a press release the MKP known as on each Cogta and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to take decisive selections towards the 9 municipalities which the social gathering stated didn’t submit their monetary statements for auditing.
Within the assertion, the social gathering stated it was reacting to the Auditor-Normal Tsakani Maluleke whom the social gathering stated expressed issues over the 9 municipalities’ failure to submit the excellent annual monetary statements for the 2023/24 audit cycle.
The social gathering stated the delay by authorities in attending to this breach has resulted in a rise in poor service supply within the poorest of communities.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za
