SOURCES
TABLE OF BOOKMARKS
METHODOLOGY, SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
W
e have taken care to collect, capture and cross-reference the information in the Handbook as accurately as possible. It should, however, be recognised that some types of information listed change frequently. It is inevitable that some of the information will be incorrect at source or become outdated during and after publication. We, therefore, take no legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information in the Handbook. This Handbook is the sister-publication of our website – municipalities.co.za. The website displays more extensive information than the Handbook, and is updated throughout the year. Where practical, the website references and links to the original source reports. If you notice any errors or omissions, contact us at info@municipalities.co.za so that we may correct the website and future editions of the Handbook.
MUNICIPAL SURVEY PROCESS Contact details, municipal descriptions, and particulars of political and administrative personnel are updated primarily via an annual survey that we conduct with all municipalities. The latest survey took place from November 2021 to February 2022 and the information should be considered up to date during this period. While we go to great effort to gather complete and accurate information, some municipalities are more responsive than others. Where possible, we cross-reference against their website, records provided by SALGA, and other credible sources.
MUNICIPAL AREA AND MAPS Municipal area information is supplied by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) and underlying source material for the maps by the GIS/IT department of the Board. Area information was last updated in May 2021, after the ward delimitation process preceding the 2021 Local Government Elections. Refer to demarcation.org.za for information on the MDB.
DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Demographic information is provided by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The figures in the Handbook are Community Survey 2016 data (as fully restated by Stats SA to reflect the municipal demarcations that took effect in August 2016). Census 2011 data is available at municipalities.co.za, including historical information for disestablished municipalities. Refer to statssa.gov.za for data and publications from Stats SA.
COMPOSITION OF MUNICIPAL COUNCILS Council seats are based on figures published by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). It reflects the 2021 Local Government Election results in respect of Metropolitan and Local Municipalities. Regarding District Municipalities, full council information is supplied by the municipalities, where available. In cases where the council seat list is followed by ‘40% PR Seats’, the figures only reflect the 40% directly elected proportional representation seats as reported by the IEC, and not the full council. Refer to elections.org.za for information on the IEC.
AUDIT OUTCOMES Audit Outcomes are sourced from the Consolidated general report on the audit outcomes of local government, PFMA, published annually by the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA). The full reports are available from AGSA’s offices or at agsa.co.za.
The terminology used is described by AGSA as follows: Clean audit outcome: The financial statements are free from material misstatements (in other words, a financially unqualified audit opinion) and there are no material findings on the quality of the annual performance report or non-compliance with legislation. Financially unqualified with findings: The financial statements contain no material misstatements. Unless the Auditor-General expresses a clean audit outcome, findings have been raised on either the annual performance report or non-compliance with legislation, or both these aspects. Qualified audit opinion: The financial statements contain material misstatements in specific amounts, or there is insufficient evidence for the Auditor-General to conclude that specific amounts included in the financial statements are not materially misstated. Adverse audit opinion: The financial statements contain material misstatements that are not confined to specific amounts, or the misstatements represent a substantial portion of the financial statements. Disclaimer of audit opinion: The auditee provided insufficient evidence in the form of documentation on which to base an audit opinion. The lack of sufficient evidence is not confined to specific amounts or represents a substantial portion of the information contained in the financial statements. The Handbook includes financials for the 2020/21 financial year. At the time of compiling this edition, the 2020/21 audits were still being finalised by AGSA and reports for the 2020/21 year were generally not available. The audit result is, therefore, shown as ‘n/a’.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION Comprehensive financial information is available on our website – municipalities.co.za. The individual sources are indicated and links to source documentation are provided under ‘Resources’. Financial information is sourced from figures made available by the National Treasury at http://mfma.treasury.gov.za. • The figures in the Handbook are sourced from the Consolidated S71 C1 Schedules, published quarterly by National Treasury as part of the S71 in-year management process, or the A1 Schedules, published by National Treasury as part of the annual MTREF process. The website indicates the specific source for each year’s figures. • Schedule C1 and A1 reports are submitted in the format for municipal financial statements as prescribed by the Municipal Budget and Reporting Regulations. The figures are standardised to the prescribed format and may differ from the Audited Financial Statements. Where we have captured figures directly from the Audited Financial Statements, we have endeavoured to follow the prescribed format. • The figures for ‘Total Revenue’ include ‘Transfers recognised – capital’ and ‘Contributions recognised – capital & contributed assets’ as per the Schedule C1 or A1 format. • The figures for ‘Surplus/(Deficit)’ reflect ‘Surplus/(Deficit) after capital transfers & contributions’ plus ‘Share of surplus/(deficit) of associate’. • All financial figures are rounded to the nearest R’000. R0 values are reflected as ‘-’. Values that are unavailable are reflected as ‘n/a’. (Continued on page 13)
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