Many Free State municipalities still struggle with basic governance and financial underperformance

Many municipalities in the Free State are marred by irregularities, unauthorized expenditure, maladministration and a lack of consequence management which left many dysfunctional. That's according to Parliament's  Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). The committee is piloting a new joint oversight model in the Free State to address persistent governance and financial underperformance in municipalities. The Auditor General's report reflected the bad performance of the 257 municipalities which also reflected that the 23 municipalities in the Free State were the worst in the country.  The committee is joined by some members from Parliament's standing committees on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Auditor-General and the Free State legislature. Makgala Masiteng reports.