Hon Chairperson, I will start by declaring my extra notes for referral. [Laughter.] Hon members, our guests and South Africans who are observing the proceedings through media, "Madume, Sanibonani, Reperile". [Greetings.]
The Constitution requires all spheres of government to provide an effective, efficient, transparent, accountable and coherent government to secure the wellbeing of the people and the progressive realisation of constitutional rights. South Africa is composed of national, provincial and local spheres of government, which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated.
Indeed, hon Chairperson, the monthly Capital Expenditure Report from the National Treasury for the third quarter, which ended on 31 March 2011, paints an uncomfortable picture. According to the report at national level, we stand at 45,7% on spending patterns of the municipal capital expenditure. As much as this is something, we need to work hard to improve. It is heartening to know that there are municipalities out there that have led the way in this regard.
Hon members, we have other municipalities in three different provinces that have reported constant spending trends well above 50% over the years, and the number keeps growing. Chairperson, I know that hon members will have an interest in finding out in which provinces these municipalities are.
I am at liberty to report to this House that these are in our own ANC-led provinces: Limpopo, North West and the Northern Cape, having reported improvements at an average of 63%, 52% and 61% respectively. [Applause.] Such improvements must be applauded and encouraged.
Credit must be given to the political leadership, officials and communities in the mentioned provinces. We hope that the improvements do not stop here, but will grow; and that in the spirit of promoting intergovernmental relations, these practices will be shared with others as lessons.
According to the Auditor-General's Consolidated General Report on the Local Government Audit Outcomes for the 2009-10 financial year, there are notable improvements in the audit results of a number of municipalities. Hon members, I again proudly mention that over and above the aforementioned, three more municipalities in the ANC-led provinces, namely Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, have all submitted their financial statements on time. This must be a standing practice for all our municipalities. [Applause.]
I'm very sure that hon members do remember that in the previous financial year there were 85 reported disclaimers. This year the number has gone down to 54. [Applause.] We should also mention that about 121 audit outcomes were reported as unqualified outcomes and others with findings.
These findings seem to be similar within a number of municipalities and they range from payments not made or paid within 30 days as required. On this one, Chairperson, most municipalities are serial offenders in terms of complying with the law and the Municipal Finance Management Act, MFMA, the lack of financial management and internal controls, and so on.
Chairperson, as we mention the few findings, one has to wonder why, what is it that is not right? We therefore feel that proper and qualified personnel should be recruited to address this challenge. The issue of using municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, funds on unintended programmes should also be addressed.
This is an area of concern for all of us, although there is an improvement. The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs should ensure that MIG policy is reviewed, like the institutional arrangements to support infrastructure planning, project preparation and management and contract management. The establishment of a national communication task team for a coherent and co-ordinated message campaign is also needed.
There is another hot potato. There is a practice called "fiscal dumping". As the financial year ends, many municipalities do not want to be seen underspending. Therefore, they dump the money. This really hampers the ability of our own municipalities to deliver services. Our own people cannot wait long for services. They deserve better service delivery. And, by the way, the Constitution compels us to provide these services, in spite of colour, creed, religion or the geographical space they occupy, as long as they are South Africans.
Oversight and monitoring is an important and a relevant task to be performed over the executive. The interventions of appointing consultants by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the support given by the National Treasury and provincial treasuries to municipalities are indeed valuable. Meanwhile, the departments should play an active role in monitoring and overseeing those consultants so that the issue of value for money and "Operation Clean Audit" is realised by 2014.
Early warning sign systems should be put in place so that they can assist in providing the municipality with sharper and more immediate preventative measures. The SA Local Government Association, Salga, is expected to have already inducted councillors with the aim of capacitating them with general understanding of their leadership role and of legislation that guides local government in key municipal processes of a developmental local government.
Salga is also urged to speed up the process of developing a method of work for Municipal Public Accounts Committees. Hence, councillors who are delegated to sit in those committees must receive the necessary support from all stakeholders to empower them to play an effective oversight role over municipalities' finances.
Hon Chairperson, as I conclude, let me remind South Africans that local government is a key part of the reconstruction and development efforts in our country. The aim of democratising our society and growing our own inclusivity can only be realised through a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system that is part of the developmental state. Together with our communities, we can make local government work.
Ke a leboga. [Legofi.] [Thank you. [Applause.]]