Ekurhuleni’s clean audit opinion not a reflection of City’s crumbling service delivery

by Ald. Tania Campbell — DA Leader in Ekurhuleni

Date: 01 April 2021

Release: Immediate

Type: Media statement

During an Extraordinary Council Meeting on the 31st of March 2021, the Auditor General (AG) of South Africa, provided an overall clean audit opinion following an audit on the City of Ekurhuleni’s 2019/2020 financial statements. This is commendable from a legislative compliance perspective; however, it does not reflect the deterioration of services across the Metro during the period concerned.

This is evident through a number of failed entities within the Metro’s administration. One of the most visual has been the proliferation of potholes on our roads due to a lack of maintenance. This is reflected through the Department of Roads and Storm Water only reaching 43% of their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Given the reduced budget for the Department and the massive backlog for road maintenance, it is unlikely that we will see the City’s roads restored or rehabilitated for a number of years. This is purely the result of an incompetent and unresponsive Department.

The ailing Brakpan Bus Company (BBC), which the AG identified as being unsustainable, is an example of another failed entity under the ANC Coalition-led administration. In the period under review, the BBC failed to achieve its overall mandate, as well as failed to achieve it’s target as set out in the Metro’s Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP).

The Ekurhuleni Housing Company (EHC) fairs no better, which reflected material losses of over R1-million subsequently being written off as irrecoverable debt. Furthermore, the entity has fallen well short of meeting its targets leading the AG to grant an unqualified, and not clean, audit opinion.

The Ekurhuleni Water Care Company (ERWAT) similarly remains troubled with a slashed budget rendering them unable to perform any maintenance or upgrades to existing infrastructure. The entity currently has 8 out of 19 Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) running over capacity. This overcapacity of WWTW is the direct result of poor planning by the ANC Coalition-led administration and has the potential to severely compromise the City’s water quality.

These failing and unsustainable entities are just a few examples of how the ANC Coalition-led government is failing to effectively govern the City. These governance failures, across all Departments, reduce the City’s capacity to perform effective service delivery and ultimately adversely affect residents.

An overall clean audit opinion from the AG merely reflects that the CoE has submitted financial statements free from material misstatements, it is not however, a reflection of service delivery levels in the City. Unfortunately, this service delivery has been in rapid decline under the current administration and given the current state of the City’s departmental budgets and backlogs, it is unlikely that they will improve any time soon.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni considers minimum legislative compliance as an inadequate benchmark in judging the City’s performance. Residents deserve an administration that is responsive and caring. In this regard, the DA will continue to hold the Metro to account, to ensure that service delivery levels are improved across the board.

• Coalition Partners: African Independent Congress (AIC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Independent Ratepayers Association of South Africa (IRASA).

Ald. Tania Campbell

DA Leader in Ekurhuleni