The DA in uMngeni notes with concern the ANC’s continuing and blatant non-compliance with its own policies and local government legislation. This after being told that they were failing in this regard by the Auditor-General (AG).
At a Special Council meeting held on the 30th of April, the AG presented their 2019/2020 opinion and report. UMngeni received another qualified (bad) opinion with many matters of emphasis including concerns about a lack of leadership by Council in relation to compliance with Supply Chain Management (SCM) legislation, policies and monitoring of management action plans.
After being asked by the DA how to improve Council’s performance, the AG’s answer was that Council must set the right tone from the top and ensure implementation and compliance with policies and legislation.
It was clear at this meeting that the ANC had no intention of taking the AG’s advice to improve Council’s performance. The former Speaker of Council, Cllr Zine Dlamini, opposed a recommendation put forward by the DA that a report on SCM non-compliance be sent to the Municipal Public Accounts Committee for investigation and that the relevant consequence management be applied. Shockingly, the current Speaker of Council, Cllr Thulani Mthalane, allowed his ANC colleagues to approve an adjustments budget which had not even been tabled to Council.
It is clear that the governing party in uMngeni is not committed to working towards a clean audit or improving service delivery. Council and committee meetings invariably descend into heated debates over interpretations of protocol and policy when they should be focusing on issues and the needs of the community.
According to the AG, the best performing municipality in the country is DA-run Mossel Bay. In fact, the top five performing municipalities are all DA-run.
UMngeni needs a governing party that will at least attempt to implement action plans laid out by the Auditor-General. That party is clearly not the ANC. With only 9% more needed for the DA to govern in uMngeni, voters must make a serious choice at the polls this year.