Municipal Finance Act – Important Circulars

You are here:
Estimated reading time: 1 min

Council is vested with the responsibility to oversee the performance of their respective municipality, as required by the Constitution, the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and Municipal Systems Act (MSA). This oversight responsibility of council is particularly important for the process of considering annual reports.

The MFMA and MSA recognise that council has a critical role to play to ensure better performance by municipal departments and entities. There now exists an explicit linkage between the strategic goals, set by council through the IDP, which are translated into the budget, and the delivery of those goals, which is reported in the Annual Report. It is important for council to ensure that the budget gives effect or expression to priorities contained in the IDP. A good budget will lay a basis for better oversight and cement the contracts between the executive/council, the administration and the public.

The MFMA gives effect to financial management reforms that place greater service delivery responsibilities on managers and makes them more accountable for performance. Whilst, in the first instance it is left to the mayor or the Executive Committee to resolve any performance failures, ultimately the council is vested with the power and responsibility to oversee both the executive and administration.

Circulars aims to provide councillors with practical guidance in financial governance and to assist in maintaining oversight within the broader governance context. It focuses on the oversight process that councils must follow when considering the annual report and how to deal with the Oversight Report by encouraging continuous improvement and promoting accountability to stakeholders,

See all circulars from National Treasury – It is essential that the executive, municipal officials and councillors are appraised with the contents of circulars.

Was this article helpful?
Dislike 0
Views: 15
WordPress Cookie Plugin by Real Cookie Banner