The MFIP III was extended for an additional two years from 2020 to 2022. The extension of the MFIP III (MFIP IIIx) is based on the sheer scale of the persistent financial management challenges observed at the local sphere of government, such as deteriorating financial health, unfunded budgets, regression in audit outcomes, poor accounting, revenue, asset and supply chain management practices. The magnitude of the aforesaid challenges will require sustained and targeted technical support, particularly to distressed and dysfunctional municipalities over an extended period of time.

MFIP IIIx will continue to be strategically aligned to the six Local Government Financial Management (LGFM) game changers adopted by the Budget Council, through the provision of direct technical capacity support to the National Treasury (NT), Provincial Treasuries (PTs) and Municipalities. This will be mainly achieved through the procurement and placement of Technical Advisors (TAs) within various NT divisions, the Municipal Finance Units of PTs, and the Budget and Treasury Offices (BTOs) of selected municipalities, according to identified work streams that will seek to functionally integrate and optimise the impact of the technical support.

The MFIP IIIx operating model illustrates the alignment of the integrated project work streams to the six LGFM game changers. It further shows the three modalities of providing direct institutional and technical capacity support to selected NT divisions, PT municipal finance units and the BTOs of identified municipalities.

MFIP capacity building and skills transfer initiatives support various institutional and technical areas in financial management in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the local government reform agenda of the National Treasury.

While these interventions are mostly informal and non-accredited, they assist in enhancing the practical, on-the-job skills of officials involved in municipal financial management.