After the Cape Town metro lost its clean audit status, some parties have questioned the performance of DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis, previously known as the “Mr Clean Audit” of SA.

Hill-Lewis has lately faced accusations of poor performance as Cape Town’s mayor and of failing to maintain the DA’s record of clean audits in the municipalities it oversees.

A setback for the DA’s flagship metro

Cape Town had been a flagship example of the DA’s commitment to clean governance, serving as a source of pride and bragging rights for the party.

Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke said the City of Cape Town had regressed from its previous clean audit status due to supply chain management and procurement-related non-compliance, resulting in an unqualified audit opinion with findings.

However, the city continued to submit quality financial statements and performance reports.

Opposition parties critisize Hill-Lewis

The new DA leader’s rivals have voiced disappointment at this regression, with ActionSA the first to criticise him.

ActionSA MP and the party’s Cape Town mayoral candidate Dereleen James said the party is seriously concerned about Cape Town’s loss of its clean audit status, adding this highlights how Hill-Lewis is “leading the city backwards”.

ActionSA warned in February about Cape Town’s regression in its audit outcomes and the city’s attempts to conceal this reality from residents by failing to table the auditor-general’s report on the metro’s state of governance.

“The auditor-general’s findings expose a city administration that is increasingly failing to live up to the standards it so often hides behind to mask the reality of a city that is becoming more unaffordable and less safe, while public infrastructure continues to deteriorate and inequality between communities deepens,” James said.

“Cape Town deserves more than a government obsessed with public relations. It deserves a government that delivers results, spends public money responsibly, and remains accountable to every resident.”

Political tensions within the DA

The criticism came soon after Hill-Lewis asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to demote his predecessor, John Steenhuisen, from his position of agriculture minister to trade and industry deputy minister, a non-Cabinet post.

It’s believed Steenhuisen was removed for allegedly embarrassing the party after farmers complained about his alleged mishandling of the foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease issue.

The complaints also included allegations that he failed to properly organise the security and distribution of the FMD vaccines.

Farmers objected to his centralisation of vaccines procurement to the state, particularly ensuring state-controlled vaccine distribution and barring private veterinarians and livestock groups from procuring their own vaccines.

Auditor-general warns of wider metro decline

In her report, Maluleke voiced concern about the poor financial accounting by the country’s metros, despite them accounting for 54% of local government expenditure and representing 40% of the country’s population.

She highlighted a pattern of regression in audit outcomes, financial management and service delivery, calling for particular attention on them.

“On the whole, metros are regressing not just on audit outcomes, but importantly on financial health, and also service delivery,” Maluleke told the portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs.

She raised the need for stronger governance, improved financial controls and greater accountability in all the country’s largest metros.