MEC apologises for erroneous information submitted to Limpopo legislature

LIMPOPO- The MEC for roads and transport in Limpopo Mr Lehlogonolo Masoga condemned the inaccurate and misleading Road Agency Limpopo’s (RAL) 2012/13 Annual Report presented to the provincial legislature in December last year.

According to the department’s spokesman Mr Mathole Machaka, the MEC received a complaint from the Auditor General’s office about the report which contains information contrary to the one prepared by the Auditor Generals’ office which could amount to misrepresentation and/or fraud.

He supposed that RAL published an unqualified audit opinion report yet the AG has issued them with a disclaimer of opinion.

Machaka added the MEC had already notified the speaker of the Limpopo’s legislature about this and “sanctioned the withdrawal of the report, recalled all printed copies, instituted measures to conduct a forensic investigation and met with the Auditor General’s office to appraise them on the steps being taken to deal with the matter”.

“We wish to apologise to the office of the Auditor General, Limpopo Legislature and the people of Limpopo for this embarrassment. We will leave no stone unturned in dealing with unethical and fraudulent tendencies within our ranks”, said Masoga.”As a department we wish to assure the public that we remain resolute in preserving the integrity and good image of our provincial administration by fighting and uprooting maladministration and corruption. “We will stop at nothing to promote a culture of clean governance and ethical conduct amongst our officials” continued Masoga.

He added that once the forensic investigation was concluded the department would act accordingly and keep the public informed.