Presenting the 2024/25 municipal audit outcomes to Parliament on Thursday, the Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said the late or non-submission of financial statements by municipalities in the Free State, Northern Cape and North West reflected capacity and system challenges that were not addressed timeously by municipal leadership.
Five municipalities failed to submit their annual financial statements for audit by the legislated deadline, highlighting persistent governance and capacity weaknesses in local government despite improvements in overall audit compliance.
Presenting the 2024/25 municipal audit outcomes to Parliament on Thursday, the Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said the late or non-submission of financial statements by municipalities in the Free State, Northern Cape and North West reflected capacity and system challenges that were not addressed timeously by municipal leadership.
The municipalities were among only five out of 257 municipalities that missed the statutory deadline, as local government achieved a record 98% on-time submission rate, up from 92% in 2021/22.
By the Auditor-General’s reporting cut-off date of 30 April 2026, the audits of Free State municipalities Nala and Maluti-a-Phofung had not been completed because of late submission and non-submission of financial statements respectively.
