Emfuleni wastes R300 million on consultants while residents suffer

11 September 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disturbed to learn that the Emfuleni Local Municipality has spent an average of R300 million on outsourced services and consultants over the past five financial years.

This was revealed to me by the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile in a written reply to my questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

According to the MEC, Emfuleni has made use of 22 consultants and spent R300 million for both its capital and operational budget.

This embattled municipality struggles to deliver basic services to its residents, yet it continues to waste money on external services while it has professional employees who can do the work.

The services that this municipality outsourced include the following; vetting of qualifications and criminal background checks for municipality employees as well as the administration of medical aid related matters. This could have been done inhouse by the Human Resource department.

The municipality also outsourced services to do the legal work on behalf of the municipality on various labour issues and on the drafting and review of by-laws, policies and contracts. This work could have been given to the municipality’s legal department.

This clearly indicates that Emfuleni lacks competent leadership who can manage the municipality’s coffers.

The money could be better spent on rental fees for a conducive working environment for employees and capacitating their skills to ensure that they render quality services to Emfuleni residents.

We call on MEC Maile to engage with the Emfuleni Municipal Manager to ensure that they prioritise spending on the residents of the municipality.

Issued by Kingsol Chabalala, DA Emfuleni North Constituency Head, 11 September 2019