The article discusses the findings of South Africa's Auditor-General, Tsakani Maluleke, in her 2024-2025 audit report, which reveals significant shortcomings in municipal governance.Only 15% of municipalities received clean audit opinions, with major concerns about procurement, contract management, and ethical behavior.Cape Town, eThekwini, and Johannesburg faced unqualified audits despite previous positive reports.President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged the need for accountability, pledging to hold municipal managers responsible for service delivery failures.However, the report highlights systemic issues such as weak monitoring mechanisms and lack of consequences for non-compliance.

The article emphasizes that addressing municipal failures requires collective action from all stakeholders, including political leaders and administrators, to ensure effective oversight and implementation of policies.The need for genuine accountability and consequence management is stressed to improve audit outcomes and restore public trust.