Ekurhuleni weighs in on claims of concealing audit report

The Ekurhuleni mayor, speaker, city manager and MMC of Finance are allegedly concealing the audit report to hide adverse findings, says the DA in Ekurhuleni.

The DA in Ekurhuleni has confirmed that on November 19, 2023, the Auditor-General (AG) submitted its draft audit report for the 2022/23 financial year to the City of Ekurhuleni and informed the speaker of the council on December 1, 2023, of the audit delay.

The report was due for tabling in the November 2023 ordinary council meeting in accordance with the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003 (MFMA).

“The speaker of the council, Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, however, misled councillors at the January 25 extraordinary council meeting, stating that the report was not received and delayed on the side of the Auditor-General. The mayor was also complicit in the cover-up by remaining silent on the issue even though he had full knowledge of its whereabouts,” explained Fanyana Nkosi, DA spokesperson for Finance in Ekurhuleni.

To give background to their claims, he said according to Section 126 (1-2) of the MFMA, the accounting officer (city manager) must prepare the annual financial statements of the city within two months after the end of the financial year.

“In addition, the accounting officer must prepare and submit consolidated annual financial statements within three months after the end of the financial year to the Auditor-General for auditing. According to subsection 3 of the act, the Auditor-General must audit those financial statements and submit an audit report on those statements to the accounting officer within three months of receipt of the statements,” he said.

With concern that there may be a breach on the side of the Auditor-General, the DA sought to determine the whereabouts of the audit report.

The DA forwarded a memorandum to the office of the speaker on January 30, requesting feedback on the tabling of the audit report.

Whereabouts of the audit report

To find support for the claims made by the speaker during the extraordinary council meeting, the party asked if the Auditor-General had submitted the audit report.

“And if not, was a report submitted outlining reasons for not submitting the audit as required in the act? No response was received to the questions posed in the memorandum, nor was a copy received of the report from the Auditor-General,” Nkosi said.

They further forwarded an email to the office of the Auditor-General, also querying the whereabouts of the audit report.

“We were informed by an official from the office that the city received the draft audit report on November 19, 2023, and that it was undergoing a dispute process with the office of the Auditor-General regarding the report’s findings.

“The official also stated the speaker was also informed about the delay in the audit on December 1, 2023, which was not formally communicated to the council,” explained Nkosi.

According to Nkosi, the speaker misled the council. “By stating that the audit report was outstanding by the Auditor-General, when in fact it had been received by the city.

“Both the annual report and the audit report are outstanding beyond their legislated deadlines. The DA will not rest until the audit report is tabled in council, untainted, and untouched from the hands of the corrupt. In the meantime, we have called for the resignation of the speaker for misleading and attempting to conceal the whereabouts of the report,” he said.

Ekurhuleni has yet to receive the audit report

The CoE assured that the institution is yet to receive the 2022/23 audit report from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).

“We welcome the fact that the AGSA has clarified the matter that this report is not yet finalised because there is a dispute currently being dealt with. This should dispel any doubt created by baseless and misleading claims that the city had failed to table the report by January 31, 2024, as stipulated in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA),” Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said.

He said the fact of the matter is that without a report, there was nothing to table in council.

“Indeed, we have raised a dispute with the AGSA. The matter is being attended to by both parties, in line with the AGSA dispute resolution processes in terms of the Public Audit Act. As a city we have a right and obligation to raise issues of concern with the AGSA so that the final report is a true reflection of the city’s audit findings,” Dlamini said.

He reiterated they hoped the ongoing engagements between the parties would be resolved soon so that the report could be tabled before the council.

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