Scopa zooms in on 'severely compromised' Msunduzi, Masilonyana municipalities

The parliamentary standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) aims to intensify oversight of local municipalities to improve financial accountability and service delivery. It focused on two struggling municipalities, Msunduzi in KwaZulu-Natal and Masilonyana in the Free State, both facing operational, governance, and financial crises. These issues include revenue collection challenges, mounting debts, non-compliance with supply chain regulations, and infrastructure deterioration affecting water and electricity distribution. Human resource vulnerabilities, such as prolonged leadership vacancies and staff non-compliance with qualification requirements, further hinder their performance.