For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa says dare to dream, still, , Irregular spend at municipalities at R25.2 billion, but could climb and, Union threatens strikes as municipalities, SOEs and provinces battle to pay bills

Ramaphosa says dare to dream, still

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to not give up on the dream of a better society and to return to the objectives of the National Development Plan.

Ramaphosa gave his reply to the debate on his State of the nation address delivered last Thursday.

He said his address had been a blueprint to achieving the vision, initially born out of the Freedom Charter adopted by the liberation movement a century ago, of a country that had overcome injustice and dire challenges.

Irregular spend at municipalities at R25.2 billion, but could climb

Auditor General Kimi Makwetu has revealed irregular spending at South Africa's municipalities decreased from R29.7-billion to R25.2-billion, but added the latter figure was likely to climb.

Releasing the 2017/18 audit outcomes of municipalities, Makwetu said the irregular spend contributed to several municipalities' audit outcomes regressing - with only 18 clean audits recorded and only half the 257 municipalities achieving unqualified audits.

Irregular spending refers to money spent in contravention of supply chain management policies and could be an indication of corruption.

Union threatens strikes as municipalities, SOEs and provinces battle to pay bills

Municipal staff and officials at State-owned entities are suffering as a seemingly countrywide delay in paying salaries has hit home.

On Wednesday, the South African Municipal Workers' Union threatened strike action if all workers at around 30 municipalities around the country were not paid immediately.

Cogta spokesperson Mlungisi Mtshali confirmed that Cogta had held a meeting with Samwu and lines of communication between the union and Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma were open for the union to raise issues.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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