Following the illegal adoption of the annual budgets of the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality and the City of Matlosana, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West has taken the first steps to bring these budgets within the legal framework.
We have instructed our attorneys to write to the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, the Minister of CoGTA, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the MEC for Finance, Motlalepula Rosho, the MEC for CoGHSTA, Mmoloki Cwaile, and the Office of the Auditor-General, requesting their immediate intervention in this regard.
The DA cannot allow this illegality to continue as it will result in the further erosion of the principle of the Rule of Law and the continued deterioration in the delivery of basic services, which negatively affect the quality of life of residents. It will also accelerate further economic decline.
The approval of an annual budget of a municipality requires the support of the majority of the total number of available seats of municipal councillors.
The Dr Kenneth Kaunda District and City of Matlosana both approved their budgets without meeting this requirement and blatantly disregarded the Constitution and Municipal Structures Act by pushing through the adoption of the budget.
The consequence of any expenditure from the illegally adopted budgets would be regarded as the wilful and deliberate incurring of unauthorized expenditure and that any person who participates in such unlawful conduct should be liable in their personal capacities for the reimbursement of such funds.
All councillors took an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution and laws that govern municipalities. In the letter, the DA acknowledged that the abovementioned unconstitutional and unlawful conduct was subsequently substituted by the adoption of a subsequent budget.
The DA has informed all these parties about the illegally approved budgets to ensure that any unauthorised expenditure is scrutinised when these municipalities’ finances are considered and Section 32 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) is to be applied.
The DA will put legal pressure on those who insist on ignoring the law and hold them liable for any unauthorised expenditure incurred.
It is not acceptable that the ANC continues to disregard the law to push through their agendas further compromising service delivery in the process.