Durban - The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has slammed the province’s year-on-year deterioration of municipal finances, party leader Zwakele Mncwango said on Tuesday.
Mncwango was reacting to the latest Municipal Financial Sustainability Index by Ratings Afrika which indicated that the financial sustainability in KZN municipalities was gradually getting worse. The findings are based on the fiscal year ending June 2019. “KZN municipalities degraded from 52/100 in 2015 to 41/100 in 2019. With the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, this is expected to get worse. While we are disappointed we are not surprised by these reports. The ANC has been instrumental in ensuring that our municipalities drown in debt and, at this rate, we will need resolute strategies to keep us afloat,” Mncwango said in a statement.“Until we can root out corruption things are only going to get worse.
He said the Special Investigating Unit departments in municipalities are bombarded with cases of corruption on a daily basis but the outcomes were not visible.Spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said it was advisable to differentiate between individuals employed in state entities and the ANC as an organisation.
“The ANC has always identified the issue of corruption in municipalities and that is dealt with. Recently we had Social Development officials suspended following allegations of corruption. It is the MEC and ANC-led government that instituted the investigation and took action against the suspects. There are many other instances where the ANC government has taken action against wrongdoers.