By Karen Pretorius

The National Council of Provinces has passed the Municipal Finance Management Bill.

Deputy Finance Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said the bill would overhaul the budgeting and financial management systems at municipal level in South Africa.

"We aim to move away from the one-year line item budgeting approach," Mr Mpahlwa said.

He said budget reforms such as the medium-term expenditure framework and budgeting by programmes had not yet been implemented in municipalities, except at a few pilot sites.

"The bill before this house will introduce these reforms to municipalities over the next few years," Mr Mpahlwa said.

He said the bill dealt with a strengthened oversight role by councillors over the municipal executive and officials regarding budget implementation and performance reporting requirements. This, he said, was an important requirement for improved performance and accountability.

The bill also obliges municipalities to disclose the remuneration packages of the mayor, municipal managers, councillors and senior officials.

It would also promote public-private partnerships by allowing municipalities to enter into long-term contracts, which would be subject to regular reviews.

Mr Mpahlwa said the Municipal Finance Management Bill allowed for more consultation and communication with communities, ratepayers and lending institutions.

He said training workshops would be held with municipalities and internship programmes would be set to assist with implementation of the bill.
- BuaNews