He said given the fiscal constraints faced by the government, political and administrative leaders had to do more to cut down on "improper" procurement practices and on fraud and corruption.
"There is no doubt much more could be done in this area than is being done," he said.
The Treasury "looked forward" to working with the auditor general and accountant general on putting "more stringent requirements in place" and getting better co-operation from officials and political leaders to ensure that taxpayers and ratepayers money was not "frittered away" without proper justification.
Municipalities, he said, had to do more to ensure they took decisions that ensured better quality spending,
"Municipalities need to focus on delivering services, on building their capacity, on building economic infrastructure, on investing the right amount in capital infrastructure and on both maintenance on infrastructure and the development of new infrastructure."
They also had to "forget the frills" such as buying a "brand new Mercedes or anything else like that".
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