UMKHANYAKUDE — The uMkhanyakude District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal is facing severe criticism from the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) over a proposed R14.6 million deal to acquire specialized water tankers. KZN CoGTA MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has labeled the unbudgeted expenditure as reckless, arguing that the province has already stepped in to mitigate local water shortages.
The controversy centers on the municipality’s decision to pursue this acquisition outside of the standard budgeting cycle. Reverend Buthelezi emphasized that the municipal financial year begins in July, and it is highly alarming for a district to seek borrowed funds for such a major purchase within the first two months of the fiscal period.
While CoGTA applauds municipalities that successfully budget for and acquire their own fleet, the department strongly opposes burdening taxpayers with long-term, unsustainable debt. Reverend Buthelezi noted that other municipalities, such as King Cetshwayo District Municipality, have correctly followed procedure by budgeting for water tanker purchases within their equitable share.
The provincial MEC clarified that while the five water tankers already deployed by the provincial government to Jozini and other areas within uMkhanyakude may not completely fill the gap of community water shortages, the district’s current financial trajectory is deeply concerning. uMkhanyakude has been identified as a financially distressed municipality, currently grappling with irregular expenditure exceeding a billion rand.
According to Reverend Buthelezi, the district municipality has consistently failed to adequately address these service delivery challenges over the past five years. With only two months remaining in the current term of office, the sudden push for a R14.6 million spending spree is viewed by the province as a transgression of financial protocols.
When questioned on what should happen in the interim to ensure residents receive water, the MEC reiterated that CoGTA’s intervention is already active through the provision of the five specialized water tankers. He urged the uMkhanyakude District Municipality to work collaboratively with the provincial government to reprioritize their existing budget, rather than transferring an unaffordable financial burden onto taxpayers.
CoGTA maintains that it cannot remain silent when municipalities deviate from financial best practices, especially when those decisions risk exacerbating the financial distress of the region.