Dunga pushes for stricter accountability after Gauteng audit findings
Gauteng Finance MEC Nkululeko Dunga has called for stronger intervention from the Auditor-General, including more assertive use of referral and remedial power.
Dunga briefed the media on the 2024/25 municipal audit outcomes in Germiston on Sunday.
Six of the 11 municipalities obtained unqualified audit opinions with findings, two achieved clean audits with no findings, while three received qualified audit opinions.
Dunga said a quicker resolution of material irregularities is needed, with shorter timeframes between the identification of irregularities and enforcement of consequences, including personal liability for municipal managers where negligence or reckless spending results in losses.
He praised Midvaal Local Municipality and the West Rand District Municipality for sustaining clean audits for 13 and two consecutive years, respectively, saying their performance proves that clean governance is possible when leadership is committed.
He also highlighted that municipalities such as Mogale City, Rand West City, Sedibeng District Municipality and Lesedi Local Municipality remained unchanged with unqualified opinions with findings.
Mogale City, in particular, was singled out for starting the financial year with a zero balance on unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
However, Dunga cautioned against celebrating early progress without accountability for past failures.
“That is worth celebrating, but celebrating cannot mean amnesia. A zero opening balance does not erase what was stolen or misspent in the years before it,” he said.
He added that the government would continue to pursue accountability for historical irregularities and ensure that public funds are recovered where possible.
The MEC also raised alarm over rising irregular expenditure across municipalities, which has grown from R6.6 billion in 2020/21 to R14.44 billion in 2024/25, representing about 14% of total municipal spending in a single year.
Over the current administration, Gauteng municipalities have accumulated R45.92 billion in irregular expenditure, with concerns that the figure may be even higher due to incomplete disclosures flagged by the Auditor-General.
Dunga noted that even excluding the metros, smaller municipalities and districts still accounted for R26.58 billion in irregular spending, arguing that residents in these areas are not seeing value for money despite significant allocations.
“There is so much money in municipalities that are much smaller than our metros, and it is money our people never saw the benefit of,” he said.
On his proposal for accountability, he cautioned that municipal leaders must recognise that accountability is not optional.
“Municipal managers must know before they accept these positions that they will be expected to perform maximally, and that unresolved irregularities without consequence will no longer be tolerated,” he said.
Dunga concluded by linking financial mismanagement to real service delivery failures, citing repeated findings, including water pollution incidents, stalled housing projects worth over R113 million, and declining municipal financial health.
“A system that cannot close out its own material irregularities quickly enough is a system that fails the very communities it exists to protect,” he said.
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