Scopa members slam KZN municipalities for spending over R200m on consultants

KWAZULU-Natal municipalities have spent over R200 million on consultants, raising concerns about skills transfer and the effectiveness of these expenditures, according to the Auditor-General.

- THAMI MAGUBANE

Municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal paid consultants more than R200m to perform work that should be done by the staff of the municipalities. The Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa stated that while the figure had declined by almost R20m from the previous year, it was still high.

The revelations angered some members of the committee, who expressed that this was clearly an ineffective use of consultants and demanded to know which municipalities were implicated in this conduct.

Even more concerning for the Auditor-General (AG) is that when consultants are hired, there is no skills transfer that takes place between them and the municipal employees. The Mercury learned from some Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) members that monthly reports about the state of the municipalities paint a picture that is not improving.

AGSA staff in KwaZulu-Natal met with members of Scopa in the provincial legislature to provide a detailed briefing on the audit outcomes for the 2023-2024 financial year.