The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands answers from the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGta), Zolile Williams, over his ongoing failure to act on rampant corruption in the ANC-led Makana Local Municipality.
This follows years of unchecked corruption in the municipality, where nearly R900 million in irregular expenditure has simply been written off, and no officials have been held to account.
The DA has already submitted the following questions to the MEC, which include:
- How many current or former Makana officials have been investigated for corruption/fraud related to R897m Unauthorised/Irregular and R18.4 million Fruitless/Wasteful expenditure?
- What investigative actions has the Eastern Cape CoGTA Department taken since 2013 regarding officials linked to UIFW escalation?
- What recovery efforts have been made to reclaim UIFW funds from implicated officials?
Furthermore, in a letter to the CoGTA Minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa, dated 30 June 2025, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, laid out very clear steps to deal with municipalities that persist in failing to comply with constitutional prescripts. The first is that he intends to withhold the July tranche of the Local Government Equitable Share from the implicated municipalities. Makana Municipality is one of them, since it owes the South African Revenue Service R3,7 million.
Further measures include invoking Section 139(5) of the Constitution. However, without the political will to hold corrupt individuals accountable through criminal charges and prosecution, legislative actions alone will make no impact.
Minister Hlabisa claimed measures were implemented to address Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless, and Wasteful Expenditure (UIFWE) in the Makana Municipality, but they have yielded nothing. Since 2022, service delivery has drastically declined, leaving Makana a dirty, unhealthy, water-scarce and crime-ridden municipality.
The facts reveal the shocking reality:
- R897 million in unauthorised and Irregular expenditure was written off, dating back to 2013, with no officials investigated or held accountable.
- R18.4 million in Fruitless and Wasteful expenditure was written off without consequence, despite clear breaches of Treasury regulations.
- No cases have been referred to the SAPS or SIU as required by law, as per the requirements of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
- Minister Hlabisa claims that the Disciplinary Board has submitted investigative findings to the Council, yet by 30 June, no councillors had sight of any such document.
Makana residents deserve accountability from elected officials. The DA will not rest until they get the answers they deserve. Kwanele!