Emalahleni council reports improved performance and service plans

Emalahleni Local Municipality held its first ordinary council meeting for the 2026/2027 financial year on Thursday, with several governance, financial and service delivery reports considered.

The meeting was chaired by Acting Speaker Councillor Badikazi Twala.

Mayor Councillor Nontombizanele Koni tabled the municipality’s Section 52(d) Municipal Finance Management Act report. Council also considered and adopted the audited fourth-quarter Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan for the 2025/2026 financial year.

Other matters included reports from municipal directorates, the Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure Capacity Building Programme, a Corporate Services benchmarking report on the e-Recruitment System and property registration matters.

The municipality’s Audit Committee reported progress in several areas, including the appointment of a new chief financial officer, who is expected to assume duty in August 2026.

According to the committee’s report, the municipality recorded institutional performance of 76%, project implementation of 94% and an Audit Action Plan implementation rate of 84%.

Council was also briefed on plans to expand Driving Licence Testing Centre services to Dordrecht, the development of a landfill site and the procurement of a yellow fleet to improve the municipality’s service delivery capacity.

Disciplinary Board chairperson Abulele Mzwakali tabled the board’s preliminary report, which focused mainly on unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

The municipality said the first ordinary council meeting had set the tone for the new financial year, with an emphasis on sound governance, financial accountability, improved audit outcomes and better service delivery across its communities.