Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Diphapang Mofokeng and Afrikaans soundbite by Cllr Anelia Smit.
– DA rejects unlawful unfunded municipal budget.
– Nine disclaimers expose governance failures.
– DA seeks accountability and independent investigation
The Democratic Alliance (DA) rejects the unfunded budget adopted by Nketoana Council. The DA is the only party to have rejected this budget amid yet another disclaimer of audit opinion from the Auditor General. Adopting an unfunded budget contravenes the Municipal Finance Management Act, leading to a collapse of service delivery and an escalation of unauthorised expenditure.
We will intensify oversight, pursue accountability, and call for an independent investigation after the Nketoana Council adopted an unfunded budget despite the municipality receiving yet another disclaimer audit opinion from the Auditor-General.
The residents of Nketoana are being failed year after year, and the latest Auditor-General report confirms what residents already experience daily: a municipality trapped in financial chaos, weak leadership, and zero accountability.
The Auditor-General has again issued a disclaimer of opinion to Nketoana Municipality, the worst possible audit outcome. In the previous 10 financial years, Nketoana received 9 disclaimers. This means the municipality could not produce credible financial evidence to support its own books, leaving residents in the dark about how their money is being spent. Such a pattern is not a mistake; it is a systemic governance failure.
We also call for consequence management for councillors who knowingly approved an unfunded budget. It is high time that councillors also face the music for endorsing wrong choices and failing to exercise oversight over the budget.
Residents deserve a municipality that works, not one that repeatedly fails to meet basic financial governance standards. Nketoana’s decline is not inevitable; it is the result of political choices and failed leadership. Change is urgently needed, and that change requires accountable governance that puts residents first.
This is the choice facing the voters of Nketoana in the upcoming local government elections. It’s a choice between failed ANC leadership and prospects of a corruption-free administration led by the DA. It is in your hands.