MPACs: Legislative Framework and Obligations
A short, but informative video on Municipal Public Accounts Committees by COGTA:
Balancing Probity and Performance: reflecting on regulation in 20 years of democratic local governance in South Africa
One area which has received comparatively little academic and policy attention is the need to balance probity, compliance and the stewardship of public funds and assets in municipalities, on the one hand, with the equally urgent imperative to improve performance of local government in fulfilling its developmental mandate, on the other. The knee-jerk reaction to the rising tide of maladministration […]
Financial recovery in Lekwa Local Municipality
National government was, for the first time in 12 April 2021, directed by the Northern Gauteng High Court to intervene in the financial affairs of a municipality. According to the Sowetan newspaper, the residents of Lekwa Local Municipality had to contend with regular sewage spills in the streets, uncollected refuse leading to rubbish strewn everywhere, water cuts and electricity cuts […]
Financial sustainability in Western Cape municipalities during the pandemic
I was part of a team from the School for Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University that – in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation – conducted a research study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on municipal fiscal sustainability in the Western Cape (WC) province. The study was completed in April 2021 and covered the first 9 months of […]
Report: How transparent is municipal procurement?
This report, released in November 2021 by the Dullah Omar Institute and International Budget Project, surveyed transparency in procurement in 49 South African municipalities. The key findings of the report include: A comparison of the 2020 and 2021 survey results shows that the lack of transparency in municipal procurement has not improved. In fact, it has worsened in some respects. […]