South Africa’s (SA) Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, has issued a warning about the state of the country’s governance architecture.

He argued that the Constitution, as it stands, is drafted in a way that can unintentionally shield the abuse of power, making it difficult for national authorities to step in early and stop corruption before it takes root.

Godongwana says this legal and procedural inflexibility is being exploited by municipalities, where some councils continue to approve spending they simply do not have, a pattern he warns is a recipe for disaster.

He argues that municipalities take advantage of the fact that Treasury must follow strict, politically sensitive procedures before intervening a delay that often allows mismanagement to deepen.

His comments come as new oversight findings paint a grim picture of local government where 63% of SA’s municipalities are now in financial distress, according to the latest National Treasury and audit reports with the proportion of clean audits remaining unacceptably low.

–SABC–