Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has heard that political and administrative power in South Africa’s local authorities is being systematically used for personal enrichment, with missing tender documents, strategic resignations, and brazen officials flouting accountability measures.
Briefing Scopa on ongoing and completed municipal probes, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed widespread weak controls and wasteful spending, prompting committee chair Songezo Zibi to describe the findings as merely the start of a far deeper problem.
“All of these are the tip of the iceberg,” Zibi said. “We only dealt with several provinces, not all of them. We are still going to hear about more provinces. The SIU is also in the process of developing cases for more proclamations in some of these municipalities.”
The SIU noted that missing tender documents remain a prominent trend, particularly in cases dating back to 2012 or 2013. Zibi confirmed that Scopa is pushing for a mandatory centralized digital contract management system, though he acknowledged that National Treasury has for years failed to implement such a system, mired in its own controversies over tender awards.
Over 360 Matters Referred to NPA, But Recoveries Lag
The SIU reported that more than 360 matters have been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), yet actual cash recoveries stand at just over one million rand. Zibi explained that some money cannot be recovered due to the nature of the corruption, and that the SIU must rely on its tribunal to order repayments—a process that can be delayed by appeals.
On disciplinary action, 222 referrals have been made, but many councils act slowly or not at all. Zibi announced that next week, Mangawu Metro (Tuesday), City of Gurui (Wednesday), and later Soweto and the City of Johannesburg will be summoned to Parliament to account.
“The fundamental failure is within the council itself,” he said. “All of this information has been made available to those councils that have just chosen not to do anything about it. The provincial cooperative governance and traditional affairs portfolio tend to do nothing. Again, they wouldn’t even need to come to Parliament if they were doing their work.”
‘They Don’t Care’ – Officials Wear R125,000 Outfits and Remain Unpunished
Zibi pointed to a pattern of strategic resignations, where officials leave one municipality before evidence can be gathered, only to wreak similar havoc elsewhere.
“There is a cabal of business people, politicians and officials that work together,” he said. “The same officials get moved between municipalities and provincial administrations where they go and facilitate the same thing every time they move.”
In one striking example, Zibi described an official at Buffalo City Metro who owns more than eight cars worth millions, multiple properties, and attended a parliamentary meeting wearing an outfit costing over R125,000—then left early. That official remains unsuspended and has not undergone a lifestyle audit. Parliament has now obtained a spreadsheet of senior officials and says it will use its power to subpoena documents and persons to assist the SIU with proclamations.
Asked whether the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) is too complex, Zibi was blunt: “They just don’t care. It’s that simple. The MFMA is not complicated. If it’s possible for some municipalities to get clean audits, those that don’t do it simply don’t want to.”
Public Must Vote and Blow the Whistle
With local government elections approaching, Zibi urged South Africans to remain vigilant. He said the quality of whistle-blower information coming to Parliament is improving, and he assured the public that every submission is logged and shared with the SIU and Auditor-General.
“Parliament cannot remove elected officials,” he said. “The remedy is for voters to vote for different people. We do this in public so that residents can see what is being done in their names and take necessary action. If residents are not interested, you get a culture of impunity.”
Zibi confirmed that Scopa is working with the SIU under a memorandum of understanding, and that Parliament will use the Powers and Privileges Act to secure documentation faster, enabling the SIU to recover public funds even if prosecutions take longer.