Provincial Summit on Good Governance, Accountability and Consequence Management in municipalities

Posted: 18 March 2021

Themed “Municipal Leadership Setting the Tone on Good Governance, Accountability and Consequences Management “, SALGA Mpumalanga held a Provincial Summit on Good Governance, Accountability and Consequence Management in municipalities on the 18th of March 2021 (virtually), in order to deliberate and share knowledge on the issues of Governance, explained Cllr Simeon Mabuza (SALGA Mpumalanga Chairperson for the Councillor Welfare, Governance & Intergovernmental Relations Working Group) which include:

• A synopsis of the root causes of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure which will be presented by The Auditor-General of South Africa;
•  Indicators for Unfunded Budget/s & its Audit Impact which will be presented by Mpumalanga Provincial Treasury;
• Revenue management steering committee, their composition and responsibilities which will be presented by SALGA and Mpumalanga Provincial Treasury;
• Preliminary Transitional Arrangements in preparation for 2021 Local Government Elections which will be presented by the Mpumalanga Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs;
• State of Readiness for the Local Government Elections which will be presented by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC);
•  Accountability and Consequence Management which will be presented by SALGA;
• Local Government Ethical Leadership Initiative which will be presented by the Ethics Institute.

"Chapter 7 of the Constitution was drafted on the importance of local government, and clearly indicates the key roles and responsibilities of local government. As we plan and implement our programmes, there must be social and economic gains for South Africans. The ideals that are prescribed in the Constitution are ideals that we who work within local government must transcribe into programmes that will benefit the ordinary South African", said Cllr Lesetja Dikgale (SALGA Mpumalanga Chairperson of the Municipal Finance and Fiscal Policy Working Group) as he opened the Summit and welcomed attendees.

South Africa, and municipalities in particular, have since the advent of the democratic local government, been striving to ensure implementation of good governance, accountability and consequences management in improving service delivery. The outcomes of these efforts have not been fully realized as per evidence presented by various professional sources and bodies which include the Auditor General of South Africa, the National and Provincial Treasuries, the academia, the media and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
On the other hand, it is undisputed that the local government has been confirmed as a site for the delivery of service since 1994, and serious progress has been achieved in ensuring that communities, including those who were isolated before 1994, receive minimum services like water, electricity, sanitation and refuse removal from their local, metropolitan and district municipalities, but more could still be done if “the right hands could be on the till”.

Various reports and popular narrative by multiplicity of sources, argue that the success achieved, is to a certain extent, compromised by poor and weak leadership, governance, accountability and consequences management challenges in most municipalities. It has been shown through various sources that many municipalities have been struggling to get the basics right, and performed below what is expected in delivering on their Constitutional mandate which includes:

• To provide democratic and accountable government for local communities;
• To ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner;
• To promote social and economic development;
• To promote a safe and healthy environment;
• To encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government.