Ticking the big semigration box

With 13 clean audits in a row, the Weskus Distrik Municipality is well positioned as a leading District Municipality in South Africa.

This is an important ‘semigration’ box to tick as only 38 municipalities out of 257 achieved clean audits in 2022. Failure of dysfunctional municipalities is often a consequence of skills shortages, poor accountability and poor leadership which leads to financial mismanagement, council and administrative instability, and crumbling infrastructure.

In 2021 / 2022, only 4% of municipalities that used consultants received clean audits. Here, one can point to municipalities not having the executive and management skills to tackle certain functions themselves, an inability to manage consultants, and not growing and developing officials to perform basic financial tasks.

Weskus Distrik Municipality Chief Financial Officer Dr Johan Tesselaar believes that the attraction and retention of talent which can be mentored and developed is vital to ensure sustained effectiveness in the future.

Municipalities also underspent on infrastructure management and maintenance. This lapse directly impacts on service delivery which can lead to unrest and instability.

Regarding Weskus Distrik Municipality’s top-rated performance over 13 years, Dr Tesselaar is proud but sees it in perspective.

“We are just doing our jobs well. When we perform, it means that we are delivering needed services to our communities while creating a stable and aspirational environment. This attracts new residents, tourists, and investors resulting in economic growth. When this happens, we can sustain and improve service delivery further”.