Hammanskraal cholera deaths a 'harsh reminder' of leadership failures, says Auditor-General

By: News24Wire

The number of South African municipalities that received clean audits decreased in 2022, with the Auditor-General telling lawmakers on Wednesday that a dearth of skills, inadequate leadership as well as a lack of accountability in local governance is contributing to ongoing service delivery failures. Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke was presenting her findings on the audit outcomes of SA's 257 municipalities to Parliament, which showed only 38 received clean audits, down from 41 in 2021. More than half of the clean audits came from the Western Cape, while no municipalities received clean audits in the Free State or the North West. "The deterioration of institutions in the local government sphere is unfortunately continuing," she said. "Our teams have witnessed the impact of water supply issues, and experienced directly the impact of untreated wastewater," she said. "They have seen that in far too many communities there is inadequate sanitation". She said the deaths from Cholera in Hammanskraal was "a harsh reminder" of the impact of "continued neglect". →