State of municipalities | ‘Only qualified officials will be appointed’

A general view of the room before the first sitting of the New South African Parliament in Cape Town on June 14, 2024. 
A man is seen using a mobile phone.
File: Former president Jacob Zuma. AFP/Pool
File: Witness seat at the Commission into State Capture.
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JOHANNESBURG – Only qualified officials will be appointed in local municipalities according to Deputy Cogta Minister Dickson Masemola.
He is claiming the Eastern Cape’s poor audit results are due to officials’ lack of professionalism and dedication to providing services.
His views are based on his visit to two districts in the province.
Out of 257 municipalities, only 34 received a clean audit, according to the most recent municipal audit results for the 2022–2023 financial year.
He said, “Do we have unqualified senior officials in the municipalities that we have been interacting with? I came to believe that the appointments were made in the two districts where I was in Chris Hani and Amathole District Municipality we do not have senior officials who are not well qualified.” 
READ: Auditor General recommends professionalisation in local government
But the extent to which this problem characterises the national space in terms of the institutional resilience and effectiveness of our municipal administration.”
“We have a commitment to professionalisation of local government because it is only at the point when municipal administrative units are professionalised their social systems, effectiveness and efficiency does not have to be questioned and the extent to which the culture of professional ethics and ethos on the side of those senior officials becomes extremely important.” 
“But all of these matters put together are a function of leadership. That is why political responsibility on the part of the political office bearers of municipalities becomes extremely important.” 
“They cannot fail to play oversight required. They cannot continue to employ unqualified officials. The Department has issued very clear regulations on: how do we employ senior officials.” 
“So there is no more possibility of a municipality employing an unqualified official.”