KwaDukuza municipality has achieved an unqualified audit, but opposition parties and civil society groups have strongly criticised the municipality’s governance, financial management and service delivery record.

The Auditor-General’s (AG) report for the 2024/25 financial year was tabled during a dramatic council meeting last Thursday. While the overall audit opinion was positive, the AG raised serious concerns, including irregular expenditure exceeding R100-million, weak consequence management and the failure to meet key service delivery targets.

ActionSA caucus leader Nel Sewraj said the findings pointed to a municipality in crisis.

“The Auditor-General’s report reveals that the municipality is failing the people it is meant to serve and losing public trust,” he said.

Sewraj highlighted what he described as severe financial mismanagement, citing more than R386-million lost through electricity inefficiencies and theft, as well as R106-million in irregular expenditure.

“These funds could have been used to improve service delivery. Instead, residents are paying the price for a lack of accountability,” he said.

According to the report, ongoing weaknesses in governance and oversight remain a concern. Although some administrative improvements were noted, the municipality continues to struggle with poor compliance, weak internal controls and limited consequence management, increasing the risk of repeat audit findings.

Democratic Alliance caucus leader Privi Makhan criticised leadership within the civil engineering department, saying it has resulted in the poor use of conditional grants.

She said consultants had effectively replaced senior management, while several disaster-funded projects – including Hulett Bridge, Kwamfanomdala Bridge and Nonoti Beach Road – had stalled or failed. Makhan said some of these projects date back to the previous administrations, when R1.2-billion in funding was received.

Dolphin Coast Residents and Ratepayers Association (Docrra) chairperson Deon Viljoen said the AG’s report was a clear indictment of the municipality’s failure to perform.

“We welcome the call for a culture shift centred on accountability,” said Viljoen, adding that Docrra’s finance subcommittee is reviewing the annual report and will engage the municipal public accounts committee in the coming weeks.

The Auditor-General stressed that sustained improvement will depend on strong leadership, effective council oversight and the urgent implementation of corrective action plans to improve governance and service delivery in KwaDukuza.

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