RAPULA MOATSHE
The former coalition government in the City of Tshwane under the DA has again come under fire from the Good Party and the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), taking a swipe at it for the City's qualified opinion for 2023/2024 financial year.
The Good Party believes that the metro's qualified opinion vindicated the party’s stance to support ActionSA’s Mayor Nasiphi Moya to replace the DA’s Cilliers Brink in September last year.
Party councillor Sarah Mabotja, who serves on the mayoral committee for Economic Development and Spatial Planning, slammed the previous political executive, saying the Auditor-General's (AG) audit report exposed financial mismanagement on their part.
The report was tabled in council during an ordinary council meeting at Tshwane House Council Chamber.
Mabotja said the poor financial performance highlighted in the report occurred during Brink's tenure, effectively making it an indictment of his administration.
“Not only is this disappointing for the DA leadership that represented the City during this year, but multiple audit findings impacted the City’s ability to instil confidence in investors, business and residents,” she said.
She expressed concern that the AG’s report stated the City lacked an adequate system to identify and disclose irregular expenditure.
Of particular concern, she said, was that unauthorised expenditure increased to a massive R2.1 billion, up from R423 million in the previous year.
“Given the regressed audit outcome, the Good Party is further reassured of our decision to support a leadership in Tshwane,” she said.
The regional Samwu structure also slammed the former DA-led administration for the poor audit outcome, saying it was “outraged, disgusted, and deeply angered” by the City’s qualified audit opinion.
Regional Samwu secretary Donald Monakisi said: “This damning report is not just a piece of paper—it is a glaring indictment of a City in crisis, a City whose leaders, under the DA-led administration, have abandoned their duty to serve and protect the interests of its workers and residents.”
He further said the report was a shameful testament to the reckless mismanagement, blatant disregard for accountability, and systemic failure of governance that has become the hallmark of the City.
According to him, the qualified audit opinion “exposes a City drowning in its own incompetence, where financial irregularities are not the exception, but the norm”.
“A municipality that cries poverty when it comes to paying workers their hard-earned, contractually owed salaries has somehow managed to squander over R347 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure over two consecutive years,” Monakisi said.
DA spokesperson for finance in Tshwane, Jacqui Uys, also the former finance MMC, recently voiced disappointment over the City's inability to achieve an unqualified audit despite “the diligent and intense work that went towards this objective”.
“While the AG found that there was a significant improvement in governance and accountability it did point out that this did not result in organisational change,” she said.