The Matlosana Local Municipality now finds itself in a scramble to correct its budget for the 2019/20 financial year after receiving a notice from National Treasury informing the ANC-led council that the adoption of its unfunded budget in April 2019 was illegal in terms of Section 18 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has repeatedly raised concerns in Council since the 2016 local government elections, making Council aware of the unsustainability of the budget due to administrative wrangling, failure to financially report and a lack of political oversight and accountability.
During the debate on the proposed budget following its tabling by Mayor Maetu Kgaile, the DA was adamant that the proposed budget was unfunded and that we cannot support it due to its illegality.
Unfortunately, the ANC in Council used its majority, with the support of the EFF, IRASA, the Forum For Service Delivery and COPE, to steamroll its adoption.
The adoption of an unfunded budget places the municipality at risk of ineffective service delivery and ensuring the funding of operational and other requirements such as infrastructure development and maintenance.
Following the notice from National Treasury, the City of Matlosana is now involved in a hastily organised and pressing effort to revise the budget before the deadline set at 11 November 2019. Failure to present a properly funded budget will result in National Treasury withholding the municipality’s equitable share, which would be disastrous for the residents of Matlosana as a whole.
A list of proposed budget cuts presented to Councillors at a meeting arranged by the Mayor on Friday, 1st November 2019, totalled over R120 million. This is the extent of the poor planning inherent within the ANC-led municipality.
The DA will continue to represent the interests of the people of Matlosana to ensure that Council adopts a sustainable budget aligned to the service delivery needs as is legally required by Councillors, who should be committed towards serving the people instead of playing politics.