Madam Speaker, Mr Deputy President, the audit outcomes reveal, amongst other things, that the financial statements submitted for audit by municipalities are inconsistent with the reporting format. The concern, however, is that of the municipalities that are accused of this; they
then used consultants and spent an amount of R907 million in total to pay those consultants.
The fundamental question becomes, Mr Deputy President, that there is an acknowledgement here that the skills are not there, worse when consultants can't do the work that they are being paid for, that is a problem.
So, what is it specifically that government is going to do to ensure that the necessary requisite skills are present and live and that people who are fit for purpose are actually employed in municipalities because we are obviously tripping one financial year after the other with the same problem? Thirty municipalities over the past five years have received adverse or disclaimed findings and not one of them has been given 139 interventions.
So, the issue of consequent management becomes another concern here. I hear all the things you are saying but what are the speedy interventions that you will put in place because come next year, the same problem is going to arise?