Minister addresses financial irregularities in City's EPWP plan

THE eThekwini Municipality has been given 30 days to take corrective action following material irregularities with financial transactions identified by the Auditor-General (AG) in its handling of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

- SIPHO JACK

THE eThekwini Municipality has been given 30 days to address material irregularities identified by the Auditor-General for the upcoming financial year. In Picture: MEC Martin Meyer, Minister Dean Macpherson and Deputy Director General Carmen-Joy Abraham. | SIPHO JACK

(SIPHO JACK)

This comes after the AG found payments made for services not rendered, including payments to ghost, deceased, and ineligible beneficiaries.

The EPWP is a nationwide programme covering all spheres of government and state-owned enterprises that provides vital avenues for labour absorption and income transfers to poor households in the shortto medium-term.

If the municipality fails to act within the stipulated period, the Department of Public Works, one of the custodians of the EPWP, will withhold the grant for the 2026/2027 financial year.