Municipal Finance Management Programme (MFMP)
A training programme designed to meet the requirements of the Minimum Competency Regulations (Gazette 29967, June 2007) and to enhance the skills of Financial Management Practitioners.


Officials and councillors of municipalities and municipal entities are advised to avoid attending municipal finance management training that is not registered by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the content has not been validated by National Treasury. SAQA-registered and validated courses are consistent with the published Unit Standards and legislative/policy frameworks. The validation process is undertaken by the National Treasury and entails a review of material content to confirm if it is of acceptable quality and standard and in line with the prescribed outcomes as per SAQA specifications.

Training Providers must also be accredited by the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority, LGSETA as having met the requirements for training being offered. Further information on the accreditation process please contact LGSETA.

Only Training Providers listed at the bottom of the page (see link to Training Providers) has met the criteria above.

Funding is available to assist municipalities with authorised training needs. The Financial Management Grant provided to all municipalities through the National Treasury may be applied towards the costs of financial management training, in accordance with the grant criteria.

Furthermore, LGSETA administers the skills grant (mandatory) and other learnership grants designed to support the municipality and the learner with training. A work place skills plan is normally required before such funds are approved. For more information and clarification, please contact the LGSETA on 011 4568570 / 8579.

For general information on training and validation, please refer to the following MFMA Circulars:

• Circular 9 - Training - 6 October 2004
• Circular 17 - Qualifications and Training - 25 April 2005
• Circular 24 - Training - 29 September 2005
• Circular 47 - Capacity Building and Training - 13 February 2009 
• Circular 60 - Minimum Competency Level Regulations - 20 April 2012

List of Training Providers, as approved by LGSETA, offering training on the 21 unit standards, in terms of the Minimum Competency Regulations issued under the MFMA

The minimum competency regulations require Municipal Managers, CFOs, CEOs, Senior Managers, Heads of Supply Chain Management and Middle Managers to be competent as per the regulations. In order to facilitate the successful implementation of the regulations and rollout of the training programme, we have invited suitable training providers to offer quality training on all the unit standards covered by the regulations.

The LGSETA has advised us of the accreditation or programme approval of Education, Training and Development, ETD providers. These are listed below for your usage and ease of reference.

The unit standards are grouped into Learning Programmes for manageability and ease of delivery for both the learner and the training provider. Once the learner has participated and met the requirements of the learning programme, an LGSETA endorsed certificate of competence will be issued confirming the amount of credits earned on either specific modules or all unit standards that have been undertaken.

The learner can fulfill Learning Programmes in part or in whole. This implies that a learner may opt to register for the whole learning programme at once or a set of modules within a learning programme progressively until all requirements have been met. In such a case, a learner will effectively exit with a certificate endorsed by the LGSETA after completing each learning programme. We recommend that officials affected by the regulations review their existing qualifications and experience through an assessment conducted by appropriately qualified Occupationally Directed Practitioners, ODPs, to determine the extent to which qualifications and experience meet the competency levels. ODPs are able to facilitate and perform work based assessment.

Interns are specifically encouraged to undertake structured learning by using the Learning Programmes to assist them in future career development. This should ideally be supported by their Work Rotation Plans, focusing on the Budget and Treasury Office activities.

Please note that all training providers in the table below have been granted some status to roll out training programmes in support of the competency regulations. The accreditation or programme approval status is aligned to the Municipal Finance Management Programme qualifications at NQF Level 5, National Diploma: Public Finance Management and Administration, SAQA ID 49554 and NQF Level 6 Certificate in Municipal Financial Management, SAQA ID 48965.

Learning Programmes and contact details of all the training providers are provided in the next two tables respectively, and will be updated on a regular basis as new providers are approved. Please refer to this list on a regular basis.

Training providers will be monitored for quality, content and value added. We request that learners also provide us with feedback on knowledge imparted by training facilitators, by addressing an email to mfma@treasury.gov.za titled “Training” for our information. This will assist us in maintaining the highest standards and be able to constantly improve on the content and material being offered.

All municipalities are required to follow their SCM policy and procedures when procuring the service of training providers listed below.

List of Learning Programmes

Learning Programme; LP number	Learning Programmes	SAQA Unit Standard IDs
LP1	Strategic management; Budgeting implementation and Performance management	116358; 116342; (116345); 116364; 116363; 116341
LP2	Municipal accounting and Risk management	(119350); (119348); 116346; 116362; 116339; 116357; 116351
LP3	Governance and Legislation	116348; 116343; 116344;116361; (119334)
LP4	Cost and capital planning	116347; 116340; (119331); (119341)
LP5	Municipal IT support and project management	(119351); (119352); (119343); 116360
LP6	SCM and PPP	116353; 119353

 List of Training Providers

 For more information on unit standards and training modules please refer to the municipal finance management skills training programme learner guidelines and logbook. To download please click here “Municipal Finance Management Skills Training Programme – Learner Guidelines and Logbook"