Abstract
This paper seeks to highlight whether the administration of the Limpopo Province by the national government was necessary, and whether there has been a difference (improvement) in terms of the audit findings before and after the intervention of the national government. The South African national government, through the national treasury, placed the Limpopo Province under administration in 2011 to ensure sound financial footing and enable the province to exercise proper financial management, fair and transparent procurement. They also sought to address poor assets management, over expenditure, violation of supply management regulations and deliver appropriate services at the correct costs. However, the 2012/13 audit findings in the Limpopo Province indicate that there has not been an improvement regarding the audit outcomes in the specified areas. This has happened after the national government took control of the province in terms of section 100 (1) (b) of the Republic of South African Constitution of 1996. Nine departments did not achieve 20% or more of their planned targets compared to five in the previous year. The paper concludes that the intervention by the national government in the Limpopo Province did not bring about the desired improvement. Even worse, there has been an overall regression of provincial audit outcomes from the results of past years. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p699
Highlights
The main objective of cooperative government is to ensure that all spheres of government are committed to securing the well-being of all the people of South Africa and, to that end, must provide effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government for the entire Republic (Layman, 2003: 9)
The intergovernmental relations legislative framework provides that the national government exercises a degree of supervision over provincial governments, while provinces do the same to municipalities (Department of Provincial and Local Government, 2006:6)
This paper explores the challenges which existed in the Limpopo Province before the arrival of the administrators, and compares the performance of the province with the (2012/13 financial year) performance when there are administrators in the province
Summary
The main objective of cooperative government is to ensure that all spheres of government are committed to securing the well-being of all the people of South Africa and, to that end, must provide effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government for the entire Republic (Layman, 2003: 9). Provinces are "distinctive", they exercise their powers and perform their functions within the regulatory framework set by the national government, which is responsible for monitoring compliance with that framework and, if need be, intervening when constitutional or statutory obligations are not fulfilled (Layman, 2003:8). It is this relationship of regulation and supervision that defines how the three spheres are "interrelated"; provinces and municipalities exercise their distinctive powers within imposed frameworks and under supervision Before these interventions, there are different informal intergovernmental relations forums existing since 1996, one of which includes national ministers and their provincial counterparts in so-called MinMECs (Ministers and Members of Executive Councils) (Layman, 2003:13). The paper further makes an argument that intervention in the Limpopo province has not produced positive results in that the audit outcomes of the province are not desirable
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