The Eastern Cape’s two metropolitan municipalities have been called out for poor financial performance.
Co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Zolile Williams said it was unacceptable that both Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City continued to return unspent funds to the National Treasury “while our communities suffer the backlogs of service delivery”.
Williams made the remarks during a high-level engagement between the province’s municipalities and Cogta deputy minister Dr Namane Masemola, where local government leaders were briefed on the forthcoming revisions to the White Paper on Local Government.
Opening the session, Williams said there was a stark gap between expectations and delivery.
“In my analysis of the competency and qualifications of local government managers in our province, it seems over 90% of those appointed in local government should be able to deliver services.
“However, the reality is far from this expressed strength,” he said.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, Chris Hani, Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo, Amathole, Joe Gqabi and Sarah Baartman municipalities, all of whom were required to present reports on their performance and financial management.
Williams expressed deep frustration that, three decades into democracy, many municipalities remained poorly managed.
“This incapacity is an insult to black managers and presents them as a core of incapable people who really confirm that they are deployees who were deployed without capacity,” he said.
He noted that the province had previously launched the Risk Adjusted Strategy to improve spending efficiency, with “good results having spent the whole R14bn allocated to local government through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant”.
However, he said it was “concerning that both Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros have become the ones that continuously return funds to the National Treasury, something that shows our province in a negative light while our communities suffer the backlogs of service delivery”.
Williams described the metros’ failure to spend their allocations as “utterly embarrassing given their size, resources and access to skills”.
“It is unacceptable that big entities with the capacity to spend are the ones contributing to sending back funds to the national fiscus,” he said.
According to Williams, both metros had been trained on the Risk Adjusted Strategy but failed to apply it effectively.
As a result, millions in unspent allocations were lost at the end of each financial year.
He also criticised municipalities for their poor handling of conditional grants, including disaster relief funds.
“I am in absolute disappointment by the performance of our municipalities who are delivering loss of funds including those meant for disaster because of continued supply chain failures.
“This is an excuse which must not affect us because we have strategies that should make procurement easier due to mechanisms we have developed over time.”
Williams said that in the first quarter of the current financial year, both Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City had already underperformed on several key grants, signalling another year of under-expenditure.
The MEC and the deputy minister also highlighted the province’s persistent struggle to achieve clean audits.
Williams said many municipalities were failing to meet even the 50% benchmark.
“Some municipalities have remained on unqualified audits for more than five years and are doing nothing to move beyond them,” he said, calling for stronger accountability and oversight.
Masemola presented the revised White Paper on Local Government, which he said was designed to address systemic weaknesses in the third sphere of government.
The revised framework aims to build institutional capacity, improve governance structures and ensure more effective use of public funds.
Masemola said the overhaul would also establish a stronger policy foundation for municipalities to fulfil their developmental mandate.
“When we are long gone there must be a formidable system which will serve South Africans tomorrow and in the future,” he said.
He emphasised that the updated White Paper was intended to “strengthen administrative systems so that the money received by municipalities is well utilised”, while restoring public confidence in local government.
During the discussion session, mayors and municipal representatives raised concerns about the current funding model, arguing that insufficient resources were being channelled to local governments despite their central role in service delivery.
They called for greater autonomy in managing budgets and projects to respond to community needs more effectively.
Several delegates echoed the MEC’s frustrations about bureaucratic red tape and delays in procurement, saying these processes often led to underspending and missed development opportunities.
In closing, Williams urged municipal leaders to take ownership of their performance and implement corrective measures.
He said the department would intensify monitoring and evaluation to ensure that funds earmarked for development reached their intended beneficiaries.
“Our people are tired of excuses,” he said.
“We cannot continue to justify failures when strategies and frameworks already exist to help us perform better.
“It is time for municipalities to deliver what they are mandated to deliver.”
The revised White Paper, once finalised, is expected to be submitted to the cabinet before the 2026 local government elections and its implementation is meant to bring renewed discipline, transparency and efficiency.
Daily Dispatch
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