When South Africa’s auditor-general, Tsakani Maluleke, presented the 2022-23 consolidated general report on local government audit outcomes to parliament on Tuesday 27 August, she said that although a few municipalities had maintained clean audits over several years, the overall picture remains bleak.

Only 34 of the country’s 257 municipalities achieved clean audits in 2022-23. This is four fewer than the previous period. Overall, 36 municipalities have regressed since the 2020-2021 audit cycle, with only 45 showing some level of improvement, the auditor-general said.

A clean audit points to sound financial and performance management practices. While a good record is not necessarily an indicator of good service delivery, a clean audit ‘positions a municipality to transparently communicate to communities about whether and when their needs will be met through accurate records, which also enables the different roleplayers in the accountability ecosystem to make informed decisions’, Maluleke said.

Report highlights

  • The Western Cape recorded 20 of the clean audits, the highest of all the provinces
  • The Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with four clean audits each, were the second most-successful provinces
  • Gauteng received only one clean audit, with North West, Limpopo and Free State achieving zero
  • Of the metros, only Cape Town received a clean audit
  • The West Coast District municipality has had the longest stretch of consecutive clean audits – 13 years
  • Other municipalities with at least 10 years of clean audits:
    – Gauteng: Midvaal
    – Western Cape: Cape Agulhas, Cape Winelands District, Hessequa, Overstrand and Witzenberg (both 11 years)

👀 Explore the updated Municipal Audit Tracker in our Tools section