We now look at the launch of the Financial and Fiscal Commission's (FFC) 2020/21 Division of Revenue Recommendations themed "Repositioning Local Government Public Finances", which takes place during a period of negative economic growth, increasing levels of poverty and inequality, with consequential severe distress to households. The following challenges have a huge impact on the revenue-raising and spending capacity of municipalities to comprehensively deliver on their constitutional and other legislative mandates. The launch of the Financial and Fiscal Commission also comes in the wake of the release of the Auditor-General's Report, which provided comprehensive and shocking audit outcome results of 257 audited municipalities, showing that 63 regressed and 22 improved. Only 8% received a clean audit. From the Commission's perspective, these audit outcomes on municipalities reaffirm that the integrity of public finances and the importance of the local fiscal government framework must indeed be restored.

GUEST: Professor Daniel Plaatjies, Chair of the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC)