Some two-thirds of South Africa's municipalities are in financial distress, while only 41 received clean audits in the past financial year.

Ramaphosa says the auditor-general's reports makes it clear that municipalities are not doing their job.

"When local government delivery fails, the impact is direct and devastating and it immediately has an overarching impact negatively on the lives of our people where they live."

"It is therefore deeply disturbing that recent reports from the auditor-general, National Treasury and COGTA show that the majority of our municipalities are failing."

The president says the dire state of the country's municipalities threatens economic growth, investment and constitutional order.

"It is a threat to our constitutional order, because local government, is in many ways the most important sphere of government, because it operates where our people live, it operates where businesses invest and it operates in a sphere where basic human rights of our people needs to be actualised."

Source: East Coast Radio