While the City of Cape Town has welcomed the clean audit for the past financial year, it doesn’t mean that the needs of the people are being addressed.
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This is according to the African National Congress following the recent announcement by the Auditor General.
Speaking to the Weekend Argus, party spokesperson on Finance, Economic Affairs and Tourism, Nomi Nkondlo, said that her party had long maintained that clean audits do not equal good governance.
“In the City of Cape Town, even the Auditor-General agrees with the ANC when in her report,” she explained. “For example, the City of Cape Town (Western Cape) has received consistently good audit opinions on performance reporting, yet this does not translate into decent service delivery to all residents within the metropolitan area.”
Nkondlo said that clean audits were not an indication that sewerage was attended to on time, nor that refuse was being collected on time.
She emphasised that municipalities, especially those run by the DA, must learn that ticking boxes and balancing financial statements do not equate to service delivery to all residents.
“These do not ensure that streetlights are working, that people have access to clean water, or that the environment is protected. In fact, clean audits perpetuate inequality in service delivery because you simply repeat what you did last year,” said Nkondlo.
However, CoCT mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said good governance was the basis for key service delivery.
“As we see in so many badly-run municipalities around South Africa. Our work is about so much more than just clean audits, we must achieve actual outcomes for residents, and cut red tape where necessary to get it done. Good governance is why the City of Cape Town has among the highest levels of basic service reach nationally, and the highest reach of an indigent support package compared to other metros, for example, according to StatsSA, 27% of city-supplied Cape Town households get free basic electricity on the Lifeline tariff, compared to the Gauteng average of 15.4%,” he said.
“Here in Cape Town, unlike in so many other places, the public can rest assured that their money is being well stewarded for broad public benefit, and particularly in service of the poorest residents. We will never allow the mismanagement and corruption that have brought South Africa to its knees to get a foothold here. Wherever we see it, we will cut it out without hesitation,” he said.
“Most importantly, working every day for meaningful economic growth that helps more people into jobs and out of poverty. The city also acknowledges that red tape in public finance legislation is a significant challenge to service delivery. We have proposed a package of reforms to the National Treasury which would streamline service delivery processes,” he added.
Also read:
Cape Town receives a clean audit for the 2021/22 financial year
Picture: Cape{town}Etc Library