Please note Tim Brauteseth, MPL sound bite in English
• Dodgy procurement and prohibited awards to state officials.
• 69% of unauthorised expenditure and 78% of fruitless expenditure unresolved, with no funds recovered.
• DA will insist on criminal sanctions.
Today’s Section 132 hearing into the Amajuba District Municipality has uncovered multiple instances of contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
Findings include evidence that the municipality had R24.6million in irregular expenditure during 2024/25 – with a closing balance of R45.5million – stemming from uncompetitive procurement processes, prohibited awards to state officials, and month-to-month contract extensions. These are all in direct violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) section 112.
The municipality also recorded R130.2million in unauthorised expenditure due to overspending of sub votes and R6.4million in fruitless expenditure incurred through uncompetitive procurement processes. Meanwhile, confidential records expose that 69% of unauthorised expenditure and 78% of fruitless expenditure remain unresolved, with no recovery of funds – a clear breach of MFMA section 32.
DA committee members also established that creditors are being paid on average 256 days late, contravening MFMA section 65(2)(e). This has crippled suppliers, inflated costs, and undermined service delivery. Revenue management has also collapsed, with 92% of receivables impaired and a growing reliance on unsustainable water tinkering – which ballooned from R9.1million to R15.9 million in a single year.
Amajuba municipal infrastructure projects have also failed spectacularly;
• The Braakfontein Reservoir, valued at R59.9million, remains non-operational after failing watertight tests.
• The Ramaphosa Settlement Reservoir project was abandoned mid construction, leaving communities without promised water supply. and;
• Wastewater treatment plants are discharging non-compliant effluent, while staff operate without proper protective equipment.
This is a municipality in collapse. Amajuba’s leadership has not only failed to comply with the MFMA – they have actively obstructed accountability. Section 173 of the MFMA is clear: officials who deliberately or negligently breach their duties commit a criminal offence.
It is time for prosecutions. The DA demands:
• Immediate referral of implicated officials to law enforcement under MFMA Section 173.
• Recovery of irregular, unauthorised, and fruitless expenditure.
• A forensic governance audit of all failed infrastructure projects.
• Provincial intervention to restore accountability and protect service delivery.
The DA – as responsible partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) – will continue to insist on criminal sanction in the event of MFMA breaches by municipalities. We will not allow Amajuba to remain a lawless entity. Residents deserve a municipality that delivers services, enforces accountability, and upholds the law.