NELSON MANDELA BAY — The National Treasury has formally declared the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality’s proposed R23 billion write-off of historic irregular expenditure as unlawful, intensifying the battle over the city’s financial accountability and consequence management.
The Treasury’s sharp rebuke centers on the municipality’s failure to conduct a mandatory item-by-item investigation into the unauthorized, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. Furthermore, the national financial watchdog flagged an affidavit submitted by acting city manager Lonwabo Ngoqo as legally defective, demanding strict compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) before any debt can be cleared.
DA Councillor Gert Engelbrecht emphasized that the metro must thoroughly investigate the transactions and identify those responsible before any consideration of a write-off can legally proceed.
Engelbrecht criticized the current coalition government’s attempt to push a “blanket write-off” through the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (IMPACT). Engelbrecht revealed that the item was parachuted into the committee with merely 30 minutes for review, deliberately bypassing the granular transactional assessments required by law. Following a successful deferral of the item at a recent council meeting, the DA requested it be sent back to IMPACT to fulfill its legal obligation to investigate each transaction.
The massive R23 billion deficit accumulated between 2009 and 2021. Despite the municipality’s attempts to rely on the three-year prescription period under the Prescription Act to clear the historic debt, the National Treasury has clarified that the age of the debt does not exempt the city from conducting a proper Section 32 investigation or pursuing consequence management. Without a detailed probe, criminal charges or liability determinations cannot be lawfully executed.
Following the council meeting, the DA wrote directly to the acting city manager and the council speaker to formally oppose the backdoor approach. Engelbrecht warned that if the council attempts to force the write-off without an item-by-item probe, the DA will escalate the matter to the National Treasury and the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).
Citing the Mabasa judgment, Councillor Engelbrecht stated that the DA is prepared to hold the acting city manager and any councillor voting in favor of the unlawful write-off personally liable, potentially recovering the public funds directly from them.
“We want to know exactly who is implicated in this matter,” Engelbrecht stated, accusing the current coalition of protecting certain officials and politicians by refusing to provide a year-by-year breakdown of who authorized the transactions. The DA maintains that allowing a blanket write-off without accountability is a blatant misuse of ratepayers’ money and vows to pursue all available legal courses to prevent the deterioration of municipal finances.
