Dannhauser Municipality lead the way in Northern KZN when MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nomusa Dube-Ncube announced today that the town was one of 20 in the province to achieve a ‘clean audit’ for 2013.14.

This means the financial statements are free from material misstatements (in other words, a financially unqualified audit opinion) and there are no material findings on reporting on performance objectives or non-compliance with legislation.

Other towns that achieved this included uMgungundlovu District, Richmond, eMnambithi/Ladysmith, Uthungulu District, uMhlathuze, Zululand, uBuhlebezwe, uMzimkhulu, iLembe District, Mandeni, Ezinqoleni and uMzumbe.

Endumeni not mentioned

Endumeni and Umzinyathi are  not named in the report but the worse performing municipalities that were given disclaimers were Jozini, Hlabisa and Amajuba. The definition of a disclaimer is’ the auditee provided insufficient evidence in the form of documentation on which to base an audit opinion. The lack of sufficient evidence is not confined to specific amounts, or represents a substantial portion of the information contained in the financial statements.’

MEC a Dube-Ncube said KZN municipalities and entities have exceeded all expectations by scoring a total of 20 clean audits in a feat that has seen the province’s local government improve its audit outcomes by leaps and bounds in the true spirit of Operation Clean Audit, according to a proud provincial Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).

“It is for the first time that in our province we have a record of 20 clean audits. It shows that we are a hands-on government that promotes clean governance and the integrity of our public institutions,” said a visibly elated KZN Cogta MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

“The positive audit outcomes create a necessary condition for us to improve the quality of life of all citizens and to free the potential of each person as per the dictates of our Constitution,” said Dube-Ncube.

“Clean audits have long been thought by some to be a dream and an unreachable goal, but for 20 of our municipalities and entities evidence has been put before us that clean audit is no longer a dream but reality. The improvement from seven to 20 is a quantum leap by any measure and an improvement of this magnitude must surely silence all critics,” said Dube-Ncube.

Irregular expenditure reduction

“We are proud that these improvements have happened all across the board with 9 out of 11 districts achieving clean audits. We also celebrate a reduction in irregular expenditure which had previously cost many municipalities favourable audit outcomes. Today our municipalities account for their resources well enough to satisfy the ever more demanding Auditor-General and we are witnessing a significant correlation between the good audit outcomes and service delivery performance on the ground,” said Dube-Ncube.

“What we think is the reason for the improvements and is also the view shared by the Auditor-General, is that, as the leadership, we insist on daily and monthly financial and performance discipline. We have also noted that where there is a culture of leadership stability, there are improvements which go hand in hand with discipline with which municipalities now regularly complete and submit financial and performance reports. Critically, effective oversight structures have contributed significantly to this positive audit outlook.  We are not about to take foot off the pedal.  It is our view that none of our municipalities belong to the qualified audit category.”

Outcomes movement

All municipalities where Cogta intervened posted positive audit outcomes.

Overall 22 municipalities improved, 7 regressed and 42 have repeat opinions

Clean Audits = 20

Dannhauser, uMgungundlovu District, Richmond, eMnambithi/Ladysmith, Uthungulu District, uMhlathuze, Zululand, uBuhlebezwe, uMzimkhulu, iLembe District, Mandeni, Ezinqoleni, uMzumbe.

Clean Audit Municipal Entities

Safe City Pietermaritzburg, Uthungulu Financing Partneship, Uthungulu House Development Trust, Durban Marine Theme Park (PTY) LTD, ICC, Durban (PTY) LTD, Ilembe Management Development, Enterprise Ilembe (PTY) LTD, Ugu South Coast Tourism.

It is important to note that 8 of the municipalities and entities that achieved clean audits in the previous year’s audit have sustained them in the latest 2013/2014 audit year.

Unqualified Auditees = 41

The province has registered a total of 41 unqualified with findings. 31 of the 41 sustained unqualified with findings while 7 improved from qualified to unqualified and 3 regressed from clean audit.

Only 1 municipality regressed to qualification from unqualified with findings in this year’s audit analysis.

Qualified Auditees =  7

We recorded a total of seven qualified opinion of which 3 improved from disclaimed to qualified.

Disclaimers

Jozini, Hlabisa and Amajuba

Of these one (1) regressed from qualified, 2 regressed from unqualified with findings to disclaimer audit opinion.

It is important to note that compared to the previous year in this audit, 3 municipalities improved from disclaimer to qualified

Performance by District

Uthungulu leads with 4 Clean Audits including entities, followed by uMgungundlovu with 2+1 entity, Ugu = 2 local municipalities and one entity