KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube has conditionally approved and authorised the payment of salaries for workers and other allied municipal needs of Umkhanyakude District Municipality.

The municipality last week wrote to the MEC requesting her to approve the payment of salaries, as they could not use their funds without authorisation since they had not convened to pass their budget.

After due diligence, the MEC approved the payment of salaries, subject to the municipality convening to pass their budget.

Umkhanyakude and eMadlangeni Local Municipalities have both been confronted with serious governance, financial and service delivery challenges.

Among these include the failure to convene to pass and approve annual budgets, despite protracted efforts by the Provincial Treasury and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), which had been working with both municipalities to resolve their financial and administrative challenges.

“We noted that the payments were urgent and were necessary for the stability of Umkhanyakude, hence our conditional approval. I have also approved the intervention in terms of section 139(4) of the Constitution, 1996, at the uMkhanyakude District and eMadlangeni Local Municipalities, to ensure the continued functioning of the municipalities,” said Dube-Ncube.

Dube-Ncube has also approved the extension of the temporary budgets and associated revenue-raising measures for the municipalities, and to conclude all formalities related to this intervention.

The department is further working with COGTA to stabilise a compromised governance system in both municipalities which have been contributed to current state of affairs.

Source: South African Government News Agency