IMATU COMMENTS ON THE AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT

IMATU welcomes the Auditor General’s submission that all municipalities, irrespective of size, can achieve clean audits through an ethical leadership tone, driven by commitment and a sense of service delivery to the country. IMATU strongly believes that municipal entities can positively improve by committing to take ownership of municipal performance practices, insisting on adequately qualified staff, rooting out corruption and providing strong leadership.

“The Auditor General’s findings mirror the very same issues that we raised at our recent meeting with the Minister and Deputy Minister of Public Service and Administration last month. Every year our members are promised that supply chain management and financial controls will improve, corruption and nepotism will be tackled and vacancies will be filled, however it is very difficult for workers to achieve effective and efficient service delivery while these serious issues continue to go unaddressed,” commented IMATU General Secretary, Johan Koen.

In light of these findings it becomes very difficult, for both IMATU members as well as the general public, to understand how municipal managers continue to be awarded huge salaries and performance bonuses in the face of these dismal results.

“IMATU is committed to working towards achieving an efficient and sustainable service delivery model at local government level, however the commitment of our members on the ground must be matched by decisive implementation and political will at the top,” concluded Koen.