The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) indicated that there was a gap between the cost of the mandate of local government, and the revenue capacity of the sector. They were of the view that more substantial, targeted increases were needed especially to the smaller, rural and less capacitated municipalities. They also reported that the escalating costs of construction and bulk services meant that, in real terms, there had actually been a steady decline in the Local Government Equitable Share (LGES) and other grants. In this respect, Members pointed out that, according to reports from the Auditor-General, a lot of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful spending was occurring within the sector.