A-G paints grim picture of municipalities’ financial controls

Makwetu released the local government audit outcomes in Pretoria on Wednesday.

He said the latest results shows a growing negative trend.

"This undesirable state of deteriorating audit outcomes shows that various local government role players have been slow in implementing, and in many instances, even disregarded the audit office's recommendations. As a result, the accountability for financial and performance management continues to worsen in most municipalities."

The Western Cape came out at the top with 12 of its municipalities out of the 18 receiving clean audits.

The rest come from Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal, Northern Cape, and the Eastern Cape.

Makwetu says the audit probed whether municipalities transparently accounted for the transactions they entered into and whether they have addressed situations where residents cannot continue to pay for services rendered.

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He added that while the situation is worsening, it is not all doom and gloom as stringent measures will be implemented.

"We still have the right to issue a recommendation but with the amended public audit act that recommendation is no longer a loose arrangement between the auditor and the auditee. We've now got the power to also issue a binding recommendation. Once this recommendation has been ignored it will now be binding."

Makwetu said if all else fails the last recourse is to consider a process that will trigger a certificate of debt based on losses incurred, which may lead to the municipality being placed under administration.