Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Songezo Zibi, has said that the finance minister is not a superman, and that the National Treasury cannot be omnipresent, making sure that municipalities are being financially responsible.
Image: Phando Jikelo/Parliament RSA
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Songezo Zibi, has said that the finance minister is not a superman, and that the National Treasury cannot be omnipresent, making sure that municipalities are being financially responsible.
Zibi made the remarks during the Parliament’s Finance Cluster Committee on Monday, where he addressed the role of the committee on fiscal expenditure, including the infrastructure spending and the cost reductions.
His remarks come after Enoch Godongwana said municipalities must return to the “foundational principle of fiscal integrity”, where revenue collected for a specific service is first used to sustain and maintain that service.
Godongwana warned that diverting funds away from core trading services such as water and electricity risks long-term system failures. He added that municipalities that do not practice fiscal integrity contribute to growing maintenance backlogs and deteriorating infrastructure.
“If this practice of collecting revenue from basic services while diverting the funds to unrelated functions continues, maintenance backlogs will grow, services deteriorate, and critical infrastructure systems eventually collapse,” Godongwana said.
Godongwana singled out Johannesburg’s water finances as a stark example.
The city generates R11.9 billion in water revenue, yet only R1.3 billion is allocated to Joburg Water for capital expenditure. “This has contributed to the massive backlog of R64 billion that is needed to fix water supply problems in the city,” Godongwana said.
Godongwana warned that if the City of Johannesburg does not turn things around, the National Treasury will be forced to intervene as the national government “cannot be a spectator” as the metro’s infrastructure deteriorates.
Zibi said that while there appears to be an expectation that the Finance Minister can ensure fiscal responsibility across hundreds of government authorities, this is not founded in the reality of how a functioning political system should work.
“Neither the finance minister nor the officials of the Treasury are an omnipresence that watches administrative and policy decisions, like a hawk, to ensure that public funds are allocated and used efficiently. There's simply not enough of them to do that.
“Our constitutional scheme places a responsibility on every public institution, and all public officials, like ourselves here from Parliament, to ensure that South Africans owners get the best value for their taxes.
“Too much of the funds allocated by the finance minister for social and economic development are lost to ill-considered policy and administrative decisions, poor financial management and corruption," Zibi said.
Chairpersons of Parliament’s Finance Cluster Committee held a briefing on Monday.
Image: Phando Jikelo/Parlaiment RSA
“When this happens, it is not possible to fulfil what the president and minister say in their respective policy statements at the beginning of the year.
“Projects end up costing more because of poor project management on the ground and poor contract management. It is not uncommon for contractors to be allowed to miss critical deadlines, and in some cases, eventually be evicted after getting paid. But there is no consequent attempt to recover the funds.
“That puts the treasury in an impossible position of having to come up with more funds for the same projects, sometimes to suffer recurrence.”
Zibi said that given the prevalence of mismanagement and criminality, it is important that Parliament, provincial and municipal public accounts committees work very closely with the auditor-general to safeguard the funds.
“When we listen to the finance minister speaking, and we ask ourselves, what is the finance minister going to do? The finance minister is not a superman or superwoman, depending on the gender of the finance minister at the time.
“They can't be everywhere. If municipalities aren’t performing, then you've got a serious problem. The economy can’t grow. So much of this is caused by the employment of unsuitable people to critical management and executive positions.
“I am (also) not happy that the government is just hunting for ghost workers, which is very important. What we additionally need is a skills review and audit, to be prepared to redeploy, or eject people who are either non-performing or under-qualified, for the work that they do.”
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za