Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Pravin Gordhan says CoGTA will work closely with municipalities to ensure their effectiveness.

Ahead of his Budget Vote speech, Gordhan said that transformation in the lives of people must mean functional municipalities, a collaborative intergovernmental system, a supportive fiscal system, the nurturing of traditional institutions and harmonising relations between municipalities and traditional institutions.

The minister emphasised that, for municipalities to be effective, CoGTA will work with and monitor them closely to institutionalise systems. These will ensure that they provide and deliver a basket of services to citizens as well as implement governance structures, with relevant committees that meet and function properly and provide transparency and accountability.

Furthermore, it will ensure that lead administration systems are staffed by competent, qualified individuals, and put in place financial management systems with the necessary controls that are supported by cash-backed budgets. Municipalities will also be monitored in cutting wasteful expenditure and the proper implementation of procurement processes.

Finally, municipalities will be made to implement post-audit action plans in order to clear out findings and matters that have been raised in their audits and decisive action will be taken to deal with instances of fraud and corruption.

Gordhan said CoGTA will put the system which will enable day-to-day monitoring of the performance of every municipality in place within six months — this will provide a high degree of transparency and accountability to citizens.

“Our effort as a department will ensure that municipalities deliver a basket of basic municipal services without compromise by setting clear performance benchmarks and introducing legislative interventions where necessary,” said Gordhan.

The minister will also establish an Advisory Committee of Eminent Persons drawn from various sectors, including civil society, to advise him on issues arising in the procurement system within local government, as well as on how to increase integrity and the value system in this sphere of the public sector.