ActionSA in the North West has raised concerns over what it describes as an excessive reliance on consultants by municipalities across the province, following revelations that local governments spent R344 million on consultancy services during the 2024/25 financial year.
According to a written response by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, North West municipalities recorded the highest expenditure on consultants of any province in South Africa.
The disclosure has prompted calls for accountability from political parties in the Provincial Legislature, with questions being raised about why municipalities continue to spend millions on consultants despite ongoing financial management failures and poor service delivery.
ActionSA MPL Masego Kodisang said the figures highlight a troubling pattern of dependency on external consultants while audit outcomes and governance standards remain weak.
“In Tswaing Local Municipality, nearly R17 million was spent on financial reporting consultants, yet the municipality still received a qualified audit opinion with material misstatements,” said Kodisang.
She added that the municipality incurred R130.4 million in unauthorised expenditure during the 2024/25 financial year, bringing its cumulative unauthorised expenditure to approximately R711 million.
Kodisang also questioned expenditure at the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, which reportedly spent R29 million on external consultants to prepare financial statements. Despite this, she said the quality of the statements deteriorated, with 12 material line items requiring adjustments.
ActionSA further highlighted consultant spending at Moses Kotane Local Municipality, where R21 million was spent on consultancy services. This included R11.4 million for the preparation of financial statements and R9.6 million for asset management services.
The party has questioned whether taxpayers are receiving value for money from these contracts, arguing that recurring audit failures, unauthorised expenditure and weak financial controls continue despite significant spending on consultants.
Kodisang said ActionSA would continue using oversight mechanisms available through the Provincial Legislature and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) to hold municipalities accountable.
“We cannot continue spending millions on consultants while municipalities repeatedly fail to achieve sound financial management outcomes. Public funds should be directed towards improving service delivery rather than sustaining a cycle of dependency on consultants,” she said.
