Not a single metropolitan municipality in South Africa achieved a clean audit for the 2024/25 financial year, according to the latest Auditor-General (AG) reports, with the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) warning that this failure points to an entrenched crisis in local government.
Metros represent 54% of total local government expenditure and serve millions of citizens, therefore, Outa says their financial regression directly threatens both community service delivery and the national economy.
While 61% of municipalities achieved unqualified audits, severe underlying issues persist. Outa highlights a “toxic combination” of over-reliance on external consultants, poor budget execution, and a systemic lack of consequence management.
The AG’s report reveals a severe lack of financial and performance discipline across the country. Only 39 out of 257 municipalities achieved a clean audit status, 17 municipalities received unqualified opinions with findings, leading to complacency rather than improvement and 225 municipalities spent a combined R1.61-billion on financial reporting consultants.
The report also highlighted major flaws in compliance and performance reporting.
