EXECUTIVE MAYOR JOINING DEP. MINISTER AT LIMPOPO CIGFARO CONFERENCE.

Welcoming delegates to the CIGFARO Conference, the Executive Mayor, emphasized the critical role municipalities must play in fostering investment. “Municipalities must position themselves as enablers, not barriers, to investment,” she stated. This includes streamlining regulatory processes, maintaining clean audits, enhancing infrastructure delivery, and creating an environment conducive to both public and private sector investment. “When good governance meets good opportunity, prosperity follows,” she concluded.

The conference focused on unlocking investment opportunities within municipalities. Key topics included the role of feasibility studies as catalysts for investment, strategic capital growth through intentional investment, fostering investment-friendly environments, identifying and managing blind spots and risks, and understanding the impact of audit opinions on investor confidence.

Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Dickson Masemola, addressed the importance of strong financial controls. He urged municipal management teams to proactively identify and take ownership of financial risks in order to develop effective mitigation strategies. “When the Auditor-General arrives, the financial records must be in order,” he stressed.