The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply alarmed by the ongoing financial collapse and systemic governance failures within the Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) and its four local municipalities — Polokwane, Lepelle-Nkumpi, Molemole, and Blouberg — and therefore calls for:
- The urgent deployment of Provincial Treasury and COGHSTA intervention teams to enforce compliance;
- Immediate Section 32 MFMA investigations into all unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless expenditure (UIFW) across the district;
- Ring-fenced budgets and permanent staff for all Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) to guarantee independence and functionality;
- A full forensic audit into all water and infrastructure projects falsely reported as completed; and
- Regular public hearings to restore transparency and ensure meaningful community participation in oversight processes.
Recent MPAC reports reveal escalating unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful (UIFW) expenditure, gross non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), and a near-total breakdown of financial oversight. Despite millions spent, service delivery — particularly in water provision and road infrastructure — has deteriorated to crisis levels.
Across Capricorn District, a clear pattern of legislative and constitutional non-compliance has emerged:
- Ever-increasing UIFW spending with virtually no recovery or consequence management;
- Persistent failure to implement Section 32 of the MFMA, requiring investigation and recovery of irregular expenditure;
- Politically compromised and under-resourced MPACs unable to fulfil their statutory oversight duties; and
- Audit findings ignored year after year, in direct violation of Section 131 of the MFMA.
Every municipality in the district shows serious financial or governance failures:
- Polokwane: R13. 7million in unauthorised and irregular expenditure, with only R3.9 million recovered and no corrective action.
- Lepelle-Nkumpi: Over R4.2 million in irregular expenditure, including unapproved salary hikes for senior officials, with no investigations finalised.
- Molemole: R31.7 million in unauthorised and fruitless spending written off without consequence.
- Blouberg: Over R44 million combined in unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless expenditure written off with no disciplinary action.
- Capricorn District Municipality (CDM): No UIFW reported, but several “completed” water projects remain non-functional, exposing mismanagement and false performance reporting.
These failures reflect not just administrative incompetence but a wholesale disregard for lawful governance, as required by the Constitution, MFMA, and Municipal Systems Act. They provide clear grounds for Provincial Treasury and COGHSTA intervention, as municipal councils have failed to investigate or recover irregular expenditure as required by Section 32 of the MFMA — and Sections 5 and 6 of the Act empower National and Provincial Treasuries to enforce compliance and take corrective action.
The DA remains committed to clean governance, fiscal discipline, and transparent oversight. Public funds must serve the people — not political elites or corrupt interests.
Capricorn’s residents deserve municipalities that deliver essential services and uphold the law. The DA will continue to demand accountability and full enforcement of the MFMA, and will press for provincial and national intervention to restore good governance across the district.