17 November 2025
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) welcomes the decision by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke to issue a Certificate of Debt against the Municipal Manager of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, Allan Losaba. The finding confirms that he is personally liable for the R4.6 million lost through an inflated water-tanker tender.
This action is particularly significant because it marks the first time the Auditor-General has issued a Certificate of Debt since the Public Audit Act was amended in April 2019 to strengthen her powers. It demonstrates the potential of these enhanced enforcement mechanisms when applied without fear or favour, and it reinforces the principle that public officials must be held personally accountable for financial misconduct.
This is a critical step in the struggle to confront entrenched corruption in local government. FEDUSA maintains that accountability must be consistent, swift, and felt across every municipality where public money has been misused or mismanaged. We continue to call for the immediate rollout of lifestyle audits for all Mayors and Municipal Managers, with results made public to restore confidence in public institutions.
The decision should set a strong precedent for the recovery of wasted funds across the country. It must also be matched by the state’s commitment, as announced in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, to professionalising local government. Such commitments will only be credible if municipalities are equipped with the resources, skills, and systems required to deliver basic services. Communities cannot continue to endure service delivery failures while corruption, fraud, and the appointment of unfit personnel hollow out governance structures and leave infrastructure in a perpetual state of decay.
FEDUSA reiterates that corruption directly undermines development, weakens the state, and denies millions of South Africans their constitutional right to an efficient and capable public service.
We call on government to reinforce existing anti-corruption mechanisms, ensure consistent consequence management, and strengthen oversight and transparency so that public resources are used ethically and in the interests of all South Africans.
END.