EFF leader in Gauteng Nkululeko Dunga expressed gratitude and pride after the metro scooped two prestigious awards during his tenure.
The City of Ekurhuleni clinched two awards for excellence in governance during the 2nd Annual South African Local Government Association (Salga) Municipal Audit Awards held in Johannesburg recently.
The metro won the award for Reducing Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure, and also Implementing Consequence Management in the 2023/24 financial year.
The awards were presented in the term during which Dunga, who is now the former MMC of Finance, was deployed by the EFF in the department. Speaking to Saturday Star, Dunga said he walked away from the position with his head held high, knowing he achieved these historic awards against all odds.
Dunga said it was not easy to lead the department as an EFF member under the mayorship of the ANC and other political parties.
One would remember that Mayor Doctor Xhakaza sacked Dunga from the MMC position just after Provincial and National Elections in May.
This week IOL reported that Xhakaza sacked Dunga because of not meeting job standards. “The Finance MMC has always been the chair of the budget steering committee but with his discretion, he appointed someone else to preside over the committee.
“Our responsibility as Finance MMC was to incorporate the direction of the budget steering committee with resolutions to the budget and we did that. We had numerous meetings, we had one-on-one meetings with the departments and the MMCs including the mayor to incorporate views and the aspirations of departments into the budget, hence we tabled the biggest budget of R60 billion that the City of Ekurhuleni has ever seen with no loan funding,” Dunga said.
He said they really wanted to get rid of some of the programmes of completion. “We made a conscious decision not to take loans from anyone to fund capital expenditure. We then tabled the budget but the most bizarre thing the mayor did was to have one-on-one political engagements with political parties outside of the EFF.
“So every time he would return to the budget steering committee he would say that the budget does not incorporate the views of other political parties and I sat down with them. They gave me their position … I would ask him to give us their submission but he did not.
“He was able to tell us that. He said the budget was not tabled but they never gave up until it was approved by council. The ANC in Ekurhuleni appointed its former chief whip, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, as the Finance MMC in the City.
“The EFF said the achievement is further evidence of good governance, transparency, accountability, and the implementation of sound financial management systems under the EFF.
“This not only demonstrates the EFF’s commitment to running a clean government wherever it is involved but also dispels the propaganda and lies perpetuated regarding the financial status of the metro under the EFF. It further exposes the fact that Xhakaza's decision to remove the EFF MMC was motivated purely by political jealousy and sinister intentions, and not in the best interests of the people and the department,” Dunga said.
He said most importantly, the party celebrated the milestone because it indicated that under their custodianship public funds had been used for their intended purpose and accounted for.
City manager Dr Imogen Mashazi said: “This standard is crucial in moving the City towards better and more sustainable service delivery for the people of Ekurhuleni,” he said. “We are extremely excited by the achievements as they demonstrate our continued commitment to run a clean and accountable institution.
“A lot of work goes into financial prudence, and we are very fortunate to have a team that understands that,” she said.
The Salga awards were introduced to recognise and celebrate municipalities in Gauteng for their exemplary financial management and adherence to the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Last year the City scooped four Awards for Excellent Governance at the Inaugural Salga Municipal Audit Awards.
The City walked away with two first-place certificates for the 2021/22 financial year clean audit outcome, and for good record keeping - a critical process in the audit purposes and measuring service delivery achievements.
The City then got a second-place award for capital expenditure on the allocated budget, and another second place for revenue collection and management. Salga stated that annual awards hade been introduced to promote accountability and consequence management, and rewarding excellence while addressing mediocrity and maladministration at local authorities.
Saturday Star