Serobi Maja’s audit legacy praised by SCOPA

POLOKWANE – The only entity having received a clean audit from the Auditor-General (AG) for their 2016/17 financial statements, the Limpopo Gambling Board, appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday.

Read more: Serobi Maja bids the Limpopo Gambling Board farewell after 16 years

The entity had to explain to Scopa how they managed to get an unqualified audit opinion with no findings for the 2016/17 financial year.

Elijah Tjiane, new Chairperson of the Board, explained to Scopa that the Board, CEO, CFO and management implemented a culture of accountability, compliancy, effective internal controls and transparency.

“This ensured a great deal of attention to detail, accuracy, validity and completeness of financial and non-financial information disclosed in the financial statements,” Tjiane said. “The entity prepared an action plan indicating what needed to be done and by whom. The plan was discussed with relevant business units to ensure all stakeholders were on board. The internal audit reviewed and verified whether information was complete, valid and accurate.”

He said the entity prepared an audit file whereby each financial statement line item had supporting documents. The audit file was first checked by the CFO and reviewed by internal audit before the financial statements and performance information were submitted to the AG.

Tjiane said the entity has a plan to ensure this unqualified audit opinion is maintained: The entity will prepare half-yearly financial statements and ensure they are valid, complete and accurate in the manner it has been done in the previous financial year.

“The entity will have an interim audit to verify quarterly performance information and risk reports before they are submitted to the CEO and audit committee.” Tjiane said the effective monthly meetings of the Board also contributed to the findings.

nelie@nmgroup.co.za