Municipality’s internal auditor second best in the country
An internal auditor from Nkomazi Local Municipality was astounded and humbled when he was named first runner-up for Internal Auditor of the Year by the Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Audit and Risk Officers (CIGFARO) last week.
MALALANE – Njabulo Sifunda and his team at the Nkomazi Local Municipality snapped up second place among all municipal internal auditors in the country during an awards ceremony of the Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Audit and Risk Officers (CIGFARO) in Cape Town.
All municipalities were invited to participate in the awards, and Sifunda had to compile the muncipality’s profile for its 2011 to 2016 performance to see whether the municipality was practising good governance.
Sifunda said the award was due to a team effort, and showed that the leadership supports them.
READ: Municipality winning fight to improve
“This award means that the municipality has been improving over the last five years, if you take into account the government structures put in place like risk management the audit committee which advises council. Our executive mayor preaches clean audits. We are proud of this achievement, as it shows we are addressing the problems of the past,” municipal spokesman, Mr Cyril Ripinga said.
Internal auditing helps to minimise the risk the municipality faces and is a fundamental department, as things can go wrong without it.
“They check if we’re attaining our clean governance goals and look at our loopholes. We come from a difficult past, and since the appointment of the new leadership and internal auditors, we’ve seen a great improvement,” Ripinga stated.
The mayor, Ms Thulisile Khoza, said that she was very happy with Sifunda and his team’s achievement. “That they’re number two in the country means we are doing something right. Even though we’re in a little corner of the country, we are doing our jobs well. Cooperation and team spirit and producing fruit, and we as the political leadership are very happy.”
Besides being a testimony to good and hard work, the award also serves as motivation.
“We want to be number one now,” both Sifunda and Ripinga agreed. “If we improve here, our other outcomes might also improve.”
Last year October the municipality won the Most Improved Municipality Award in terms of municipal auditing concerns at CIGFARO’s Clean Administration Awards in Durban.
At the provincial conference of the South African Local Government Association, the municipality received most improved municipality and most improved audit outcomes. Read about these achievements here.
