Spending put on ice

Councils get the money but fail to spend it, says AG.

- Antoinette Slabbert

FINDINGS: MUNICIPAL PROJECTS ARE DELAYED BY ABOUT TWO YEARS

On March 2010, the City of Joburg started the R464 million Malibongwe Ridge housing project to build 7 227 units and provide affordable housing for the residents of the Itsoseng informal settlement. The planned completion date was March next year.

Now, in 2024, only 1 368 units (19%) have been completed, and the people of Itsoseng are mostly still living in poor conditions.

The city still paid the contractor 98% of the contract value, which does not match the progress of the construction.

This is only one of several examples auditor-general (AG) Tsakani Maluleke gives in her recent consolidated report on municipal audit outcomes for 2022-23 of poor project management that impacts the delivery of infrastructure urgently needed by communities. The AG's office annually audits how municipalities manage grants and selected infrastructure projects.

"Despite this, we see limited improvement year on year and this report again describes similar findings as those included in previous general reports."

Government grants

National government annually pays several grants to municipalities for infrastructure projects.

They include general infrastructure grants, those earmarked for bulk infrastructure projects, water and public transport and urban settlement grants for the eight metros to improve access to basic services.