At present municipalities in the Republic of South Africa are under pressure as
a result of poor financial control and accountability that give cause to
extensive corruption and financial mismanagement with the subsequent
detrimental consequences for effective and efficient rendering of goods and
services to the inhabitants. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that serious
attention be given to the implementation of effective and efficient financial
control and accountability at municipalities.
Financial control and responsibility are definitely of the utmost importance in
determining either the success or failure of local government in the Republic
of South Africa. Financial control and accountability serve as important
building blocks for a democratic dispensation relying on effective and efficient
municipal government and administration.
It is imperative that financial control should take place continuously and that a
guiding and guarding hand should be held upon the manner in which money is
spent or has been spent. This must then be reported to the municipal council
who in turn must report to the inhabitants of the municipality. In order to
account to the inhabitants regarding the functions and activities of municipal
officials it is of vital importance that a council should execute sound control
over the activities of its officials. Sound financial management will enhance a
positive attitude and trust among the inhabitants towards the council.
Accountability is in fact a responsibility that has to be accepted by everyone
who has come into a position of authority. This implies that accountability has
to be accepted in the manner of which the acquired responsibility is executed.
The inherent aim of financial management at municipalities is to account for
expenditure in public. The taxpayer has to be in a position to determine
whether the money as appropriated in the budget has been used for that
specific purpose. This purpose should be for the service rendering of particular goods and services bearing in mind the scarcity of funds and the
complexity of needs.
Statutory financial control at the sphere of local government consists of two
components, viz. an external component (preparation of the budget, control
over loans, expenditure, revenue, and external auditing) and an internal
component (internal auditing, reporting, ethical conduct, and financial
regulations). By means of these, it can be determined whether funds for
approved programmes have been spent effectively and efficiently and whether
the local community has received value for money.
Several issues exist that can make it more difficult for the effective and
efficient financial management at municipalities in the Republic of South
Africa. These issues inter alia, include a lack of expertise, inability to collect
arrear debt, extensive corruption, and exorbitant salaries and bonuses. In
order to eliminate these issues it is necessary to create a basic set of ethical
principles and values. Ethics is linked to the evaluation of specific forms of
human behaviour or decisions that determine what is right or wrong, good or
bad, or acceptable or not acceptable for the inhabitants of a particular
municipality. Ethical conduct and the acceptance of proper values can
prohibit municipal councillors and officials to be attracted to corrupt activities.
A new positive development at the local government sphere is the
implementation of Municipal Public Accounts Committees at municipalities in
Gauteng. This body will enforce accountability at the local government
sphere. A Municipal Public Accounts Committee is a committee of the
municipal council that is appointed by the council to investigate financial
issues and to report to the council. The media can also play an important role
with the functions of this committee as it will keep the inhabitants informed
about issues investigated by the committee.
The effective and efficient enforcement of financial control measures of public
accountability can ameliorate the occurrence of corruption and financial
mismanagement at municipalities. This surely serves as a guarantee for excellent municipal financial management and can add to the public opinion
and interest â the fundamental objectives of a democratic local government
and management. The execution of proper financial control over municipal finances in order
to enforce accountability at local municipalities to avoid
maladministration and corruption and to contribute towards efficiency and
effectiveness at local government level in the Republic of South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-09232008-144242 |
| Date | 23 September 2008 |
| Creators | Laubscher, Laetitia Hendrina |
| Contributors | Prof HJ Kroukamp, Prof FP van Straaten |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-09232008-144242/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds