uPhongolo Municipality is established and operates in terms of Chapter 7 of the South African Constitution. Section 152(1) of the Constitution outlines various objects of local government and it is on these objects that this municipality governs and serves its community in a manner that is commensurate with democracy. 

The Municipality developed an Audit General’s Action Plan to address all the issues and/or findings and this emanates from matters reported by the Internal Auditors and the Auditor General during 2019/2020 audit.  The MPAC meets monthly as required, they carry an oversight role and assists the Council by investigating all cases of irregularity.  The Fraud Prevention Strategy was approved by Council is being implemented and this would help r educe malpractices within uPhongolo Municipality. We also have instituted an Enterprise Risk Management Framework which also includes the Risk Management Policy.  Although all managers and employees are responsible for risk management in their respective sections, the Municipality has a MANCO Risk Committee to address the important task of risk management. The MANCO Risk Committee reports to the Audit Committee on a quarterly basis.

The Annual Risk Assessment process was successfully completed with the assistance of KZN Provincial Treasury.  This process was of critical importance as the Internal Audit is required by the MFMA to plan the audit coverage to address the risks identified through the risk management processes developed and maintained by management, therefore the risk assessment process and the internal audit planning process are aligned so that timely and relevant risk information is available to internal audit when they are devising their audit coverage plans.

A strategy to detect corrupt and fraudulent activities was developed during 2019/2020 financial year and the strategy is implemented effectively. Positive results are experienced as there were no instances of financial misconduct that were reported. The appointment process of the Director Community Services and Director Development Planning and LED are in progress as these positions have already been advertised. The director positions will be concluded in 2021/2022 financial year as these posts are budgeted for and this will accelerate service delivery. 

▪ The municipality has approved Performance Management (PM) guiding documents, thus, Organisational PMS Framework and Employee Performance Management Development Policy which are aligned to the Planning and Performance Management Regulations including Appointment and Conditions of Employment of   Senior Managers issued on the 17 January 2014. The high-level process cycle of the Performance Management System is designed to monitor the departmental performance regarding service delivery using the 6 Key Performance Areas (KPA’s) namely:  (Municipal Transformation and Institutional Development; Financial Viability and Management;  Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure Development; Local Economic Development  Good Governance and Public Participation; and Cross‐Cutting Interventions. 

The service delivery highlights for the current year are listed below:  

• Electricity – uPhongolo Municipality is not far from reaching the electricity universal coverage. Due to budget constraints the municipality is unable to achieve the desired target (electricity backlogs).
• Refuse – Households with refuse being collected by the Municipality was above minimum standard as the standard collection is twice weekly for all households being provided by the service.
• Sanitation‐ Households with access to flush or chemical toilet and VIP toilets were above minimum standards. The sanitation function is provided by the District Municipality and the access of 70% above the minimum standard is as per the 2011 statistics.
• Water‐ Households with piped water in their yard and at a communal stand are above minimum standard and as such, a 27% backlog was noted in the 2011 census information. This function is also being provided by the District Municipality.

It is with great pleasure for me to report that for the 2021/2022 financial year, the Municipality received an Unqualified Audit Opinion.  An AG Action Plan has been developed and it is the intention of the Municipality to improve compliance thereof by giving cognisance to all the AG’s findings.  This should give assurance to the rates payers and the community of uPhongolo at large that the Municipality is doing all its powers to effect efficient and cost effective management.  

The Municipality also recognizes the efforts and inputs of all stakeholders that are working together with it to achieve its main objectives. To this end, local businesses are further encouraged to support the communities and the Municipality as part of their social responsibility.  

In summing up, I would like to present to you the initiatives, programmes and services that have been carefully planned to address your needs as the uPhongolo Community.   

I thank you 

Municipal Manager: Mr BM Khali

uPhongolo Municipality