Report points out Lim poor finances
The release of the Auditor-General's report, which painted a bleak picture of the finances of Limpopo, could begin to cast doubt on the political and administrative future of the Premier, Stanley Mathabatha.
LIMPOPO – This month, the AG, Kim Makwetu said Limpopo’s financial health “left much to be desired”, showing a decrease in clean audit reports received by provincial government departments and entities in 2015/ 16 compared to 2014/ 15.
Makwetu said Limpopo went from receiving 4% clean audits in the 2014/ 15 financial year to none in the most recent financial year.
The report, released by the AG in parliament last Wednesday, indicated that poor leadership and governance had affected government owned entities’ operations and audit outcomes.
The report further indicated that in the country, Limpopo, North West and the Free State provinces obtained the least number of clean audits in their provincial government departments and entities.
Makwetu singled out education and health as the worst performing departments in the province. He said it was baffling that the dismal performance of both health and education continued in the two departments despite the two accounting for 76% of the provincial budget.
“The provincial education department, which received the fattest slice of the provincial budget annually, continued to harvest poor results. The department receives 47% of the provincial budget, but that did not stop it from continuing to disappoint,” said Makwetu.
“The department has for the fifth year in a row failed to obtain a clean audit. The despicable performance continued despite the fact that the same department was put under administration.
He said the same performance could not be said about some of the best provinces in the country which performed well.
Limpopo should draw lessons from the Western Cape, Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal, which are some of the country’s best performing provinces.
Makwetu’s audit report further indicated that six Limpopo municipalities were also on the verge of collapse financially: Vhembe, Mopani, Sekhukhune, Belabela and Musina and the newly established municipality, Lim 345.
Makwetu’s report comes just at the backdrop of mounting calls for him to take remedial actions against political and administrative leadership of the affected department.
Education was the most attacked by both oppositions and members of his cabinet who claimed Mathabatha was sitting on his laurels instead of taking action against MEC Ishmael Kgetjepe.
The calls were exacerbated by the text and stationery books saga which saw almost all schools in Limpopo without books in January at the school opening.
Limpopo Provincial Government Spokesperson, Phuti Seloba said the province has also made an assessment wherein it was discovered urgent financial aid was needed.
“We are working with relevant national department in an effort to ensure an urgent injection. But we are currently beginning to see improvements in other municipalities. Meanwhile, Musina and Thabazimbi are beginning to get a close look from the Limpopo provincial government in an effort to avert the situation,” he said.
