The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) budget vote is central to the health of our municipalities, the dignity of our traditional institutions, and the resilience of our communities. It is here that the failures of local government are confronted – or ignored – and where accountability must be enforced.
The Budget
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) COGTA department’s allocation has increased from R1.931 billion in 2025/26 to R2.033 billion in 2026/27 – a 5.29% increase – much of which is inflationary, not transformative.
Alarmingly, 45% is consumed by Compensation of Employees (CoE) and a further 26% by allocations to Izinduna, Amakhosi, and Traditional Council Secretaries. With 71% of the budget locked into salaries and stipends – leaving only 29% for operational and project costs – the department’s ability to meet service delivery targets is severely strained.
The portfolio committee’s report and deliberations reveal deep challenges;
• Budget imbalance: Too much of the budget is tied to personnel costs, leaving little for service delivery
• Unmet targets: Programme 1 recorded the highest number of unmet targets last year, raising doubts about capacity to deliver in 2026/27
• Weak internal controls: Concerns remain about unauthorized, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure
• Delayed disciplinary cases: Cases are not finalised within 90 days, undermining consequence management
• Service delivery failures: Water shortages, rising electricity costs, and collapsing infrastructure continue to plague municipalities
• Reliance on consultants: Instead of strengthening internal capacity, the department spends heavily on consultants, raising questions of value for money and;
• Capacity constraints: Municipal support programmes are underfunded and overstretched.
Amakhosi Vehicles
Another pressing issue is the rollout of vehicles to KZN’s Amakhosi. The DA supports our traditional leaders. We affirm their right to have the tools necessary to perform their duties effectively. Vehicles are indeed vital for Amakhosi to reach communities, attend ceremonies, and fulfil their governance role.
The problem is that the vehicle rollout is not budgeted for. This begs the questions;
• Is it sustainable?
• Which aspect of the budget suffers because of it?
• If funds are diverted to vehicles, does that mean fewer resources for municipal support, fewer interventions in distressed municipalities and fewer disaster management initiatives?
This is not a question of whether Amakhosi deserve vehicles – they do. It is a question of whether this budget can sustain it without undermining other priorities. Transparency is needed. Accountability is needed. KZN cannot afford unfunded mandates that weaken service delivery and the DA calls on KZN COGTA MEC, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, to share details of the budget reprioritisation and the policy being developed to govern the use of the vehicles.
In summary, KZN COGTA’s budget is flawed in three critical ways:
• It prioritises salaries over service delivery. With 71% of funds locked into personnel, municipalities remain under-supported
• It lacks enforcement mechanisms. Section 106 investigations and Section 154 interventions are mentioned, but without dedicated funding for consequence management, corruption thrives
• It introduces commitments without clear funding. The rollout of vehicles to Amakhosi is not budgeted for, raising sustainability concerns.
Confronting a structural weakness
It is also unfortunate that it would appear that the political leadership within KZN’s failing municipalities has not stepped up to show political will to effectively address issues. This is unacceptable. When taps run dry, when lights go out, when sewage flows in the streets, citizens do not blame “autonomy.” They blame government – and rightly so.
It is time for the KZN Legislature to confront this structural weakness.
Within the current legislative framework at our disposal, the only effective mechanism we can deploy is to dramatically widen the scope and opportunity for Section 132 hearings as contemplated in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
These hearings empower KZN’s COGTA portfolio committee to hold municipalities directly to account. We can address unauthorized, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure – thereby playing a role in fixing financial mismanagement and service delivery failures. We can hold municipal mayors, municipal managers, and municipal public accounts committees (MPACs) directly accountable for executing corrective action plans.
In order to exercise these powers, the portfolio committee will require the co-operation of the KZN Legislature. The current Annual Operating Plan (AOP) has been approved with only 10 slots – woefully inadequate to deal with KZN’s 54 municipalities. The DA therefore calls on the Legislature to grant COGTA far more slots for this purpose than has previously been the case.
Without such authority, Vote 11 will remain a budget of support without enforcement, of advice without authority, of hope without power.
Refining the Budget
The DA proposes the following measures aimed at refining this budget;
• Dedicated consequence management Fund: Ring-fenced allocations for investigations, disciplinary processes, and prosecutions of municipal corruption
• Community accountability forums: Institutionalise citizen forums to report failures and demand accountability
• Reduced consultant reliance: Build internal capacity instead of outsourcing critical functions and;
• Transparent funding for Amakhosi vehicles: If vehicles are to be rolled out, they must be budgeted transparently, with clear trade-offs explained.
This is not a call for more bureaucracy. It is a call for leadership. KZN’s Office of the Premier, Treasury, and COGTA must work together to enforce accountability. Municipalities must be partners in development, not obstacles. The culture of impunity must be rejected and every rand spent at municipal level must deliver value for money.
The DA welcomes KZN’s COGTA budget. We acknowledge the support it provides and we commend allocations to traditional leadership and disaster management. But we also critique its weaknesses and call for refinements.
Most importantly, we call for the KZN Legislature to confront the structural weakness in holding municipalities directly to account. Without such authority, this will remain a budget of hope without power. With it, we can transform local government into a driver of service delivery, accountability, and dignity.