By Doreen Mokgolo
Executive mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has implemented measures to improve metro operations in a bid to regain the City of Ekurhuleni’s clean audit status.
The metro lost its string of clean audits in the 2023-24 financial year, with the Auditor-General’s report identifying unauthorised, irregular, and wasteful expenditures.
It is one of the 223 municipalities that didn’t achieve a clean audit for 2023-24.
Reporting on his first 100 days in office during an ordinary council meeting in Germiston on Tuesday, Xhakaza said he is confident that Finance MEC Jongizizwe Dlabathi is on the right path to rehabilitate the metro’s finances, which has a R60-billion budget.
When he took office in March, Xhakaza committed to reporting quarterly to the council on service delivery progress.
Xhakaza said the city has institutionalised Operation Clean Audit to ensure clean governance.
“We are paying attention to all the areas flagged by the Auditor-General, paying more attention in the supply chain where specific contracts were of concern.
“Together with the finance department, we have introduced measures to turn around the situation,” he said.
Responding to the mayor’s speech, DA councillor Brandon Pretorius said the achievements listed painted a vague picture of the City’s residents’ experience, which does not speak to reality.
“Rekindling old ideas will never advance the needs of our residents nor address the economic complexities of our times.
“If you were serious about these steps, you would have addressed many of the scandals that transpired under the leadership of Alderman [Sivuyile] Ngodwana,” he said.
Pretorius said that in the second quarter of 2023, compared to the second quarter of 2024, unemployment in the city increased from 32.3% to 33.4%.
Meanwhile, ActionSA’s caucus leader, Siyanda Makhoba, scored the mayor’s performance in office a ‘C’.
“The mayor’s speech is an attempt to paint a perfect story, one that seems not to highlight the continued challenges,” he said, adding that “reports show that you only achieved 7.9% of service delivery queries finalised.
“Waste has not been collected in Tembisa, Daveyton and Etwatwa, Brakpan, Benoni, and Katlehong as a result of non-payment of service providers,” he said.
Pictured above: Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza.
Source: Doreen Mokgolo
