Strengthening Financial Management and Consequence Management for the Municipal Finance Management Act

Detailed project description:

The overall objective of the project was strengthening governance and accountability at local government level through the development of a comprehensive practical consequence management framework.

The specific objective of the project was to develop consequence management and accountability framework document and empowering the political and administrative leadership within municipalities and municipal entities to implement consequence management.

The services included but did not limit to the following:

• Undertook a thorough research, review and analysis of the current consequence management legal prescripts applicable to the local government sphere and identified gaps.

• Prepared a Diagnostic Report

• Reviewed current material on Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure and identified gaps to be addressed in support of Municipal Public Accounts Committees, within municipalities and to ensure effective consequence management.

• Drafted the consequence management and accountability framework, which included a generic municipal model policy, standard operating procedures, tools to monitor and report on decisions taken that can be adapted and adopted by municipalities. This consequence management and accountability framework is primarily targeted to:

• Accounting Officers who are legislatively and administratively responsible for implementing consequence management within the municipality and municipalities;

• Senior Managers who are assigned by the accounting officers to assist with the implementation of consequence management;

• Human Resources practitioners including organisation development practitioners; and

• Any practitioner, including those in the provincial and national spheres of government who finds the programme useful in their area of work.

• Drafted an MFMA Circular, which accompanies the consequence management and accountability framework, and supporting annexures that will include process and flow charts, links and references to standard operating procedures, and clarifying step-by-step consequence management processes.

• Developed a training material (Learner Pack) that includes:

• Learner Guide, Facilitators Guide and Assessment Guide for the non-accredited course based on consequence management legal prescripts and framework, Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings.

• Flow charts, links and references to standard operating procedures, and clarifying step-by-step consequence management processes.

• Organised 1 pilot session virtually on the non-accredited training course for each of the 9 Provinces for municipal and provincial delegates for up to 200 municipality officials (Accounting officers, Senior managers, Human Resource practitioners)

• Revised the training material (learner, facilitator and assessment guides), on the basis of the input of the pilot sessions

• Organised 1 follow-up session on the non-accredited training course for each of the 9 Provinces for municipal and provincial delegates for up to 200 municipality officials (Accounting officers, Senior managers, Human Resource practitioners)

• Revised and finalised the training materials

• Revised and finalised the consequence management and accountability framework in line with the pilot and follow-up sessions’ feedback

• Developed and reproduced booklets of at least 150 pages on “Consequence Management: A MFMA Perspective”

• Compiled a final report with recommendations