City of Tshwane Officials benefit from TUT experts' financial skills

During a recent workshop, TUT’s Prof Polly Mashigo shared her expertise in financial management with City of Tshwane officials to curb over-indebtedness and strengthen municipal accountability.

Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Finance, Prof Polly Mashigo who presented financial management training during the City of Tshwane Financial Literacy Workshop. The workshop formed part of the City’s Finance Outreach Programme, which aims to help officials better understand financial management and avoid over-indebtedness so they can assist residents with managing municipal accounts.

Prof Mashigo, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Finance at the Tshwane University of Technology, shared her expertise on budgeting, debt and over-indebtedness, savings and investments, interest rates, financial decisions, managing indebted officers in debt collection roles and getting out of debt.

Initiated by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality’s Finance Department, the Finance Outreach Programme also aims to assist Tshwane residents to manage their municipal bills.

Emphasising the importance of the initiative, Prof Mashigo said officials must manage their own finances effectively to assist residents with resolving municipal account queries, facilitating payment arrangements for arrears and advising on affordability plans and available relief options.

She urged officials to prioritise savings and investment opportunities, while being responsible with their own debts. She warned against savings and investments that do not generate interest and cautioned against unclear debt terms such as residual and balloon contracts.

“This role requires you as the officials to be able to manage your finances. You cannot talk to people about managing their municipal accounts if you are not financially literate. You must practice what you teach. If you are an indebted officer and experiencing financial strain, this can influence how you handle municipal funds,” she said.

To protect municipal resources and curb corruption, Prof Mashigo recommended enforcing financial declarations, rotating officials regularly - particularly those dealing with finances - and excluding officials with high risk debt profiles from handling sensitive accounts.

“It is potentially a high risk to trust a person who is over-indebted to handle municipal accounts. If you have an officer who owes the municipality, they can be vulnerable to misconduct. While conducting my research I found that during the introduction of the prepaid token system, a number of service staff members were reported to have taken bribes from residents when they were cutting off illegal connections,” she said.

Her research also revealed a case where officials illegally transferred approximately R11 million into fraudulent municipal accounts.

She advised officials to stick to their budgets and not allow friends and family to pressure them into taking on additional debt.

In concluding her presentation, Prof Mashigo highlighted the serious consequences of financial strain including the risk of suicide.

City of Tshwane officials engaging during the financial literacy workshop.