Govan Mbeki Municipality Public Account Committee chairperson, Ms Ciska Jordaan, wants her office to be open to public.
She said now she is working out the terms of reference and will then take the communication policy to council for approval for the public to be abled to access any information on MPAC activities.
“We need to promote public participation by encouraging the community to attend council meetings, although they will not participate.
“Firstly, the committee needs to be established which will include all parties in council chamber. It was not like this previously, because the ruling party was using its majority to form MPAC.
“The committee will be the community watchdog on how municipal finances are used,” said Ms Jordaan.
“I am grateful that all political parties will play pivotal roles in this committee, because we will be working with everyone who has the public’s interest at heart,” said Ms Jordaan.
Ms Jordaan also encourages the community to have input in the Integrated Development Plan.
She said her office will also conduct an oversight in all projects of the municipality.
The committee performs the following functions:
* Reports to the council on its activities that include reviews of municipal annual and quarterly reports and reports to Council,
* Develops a comprehensive oversight report on the annual report.
* Monitors the implementation of the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) and Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP) and submit reports thereto.
The committee also oversees policy formulation and implementation and ensures that Council complies with external reporting requirements.
MPAC examines the financial statements, midyear review in line with the IDP and audit reports of the municipality and consider improvements from previous statements and reports and must evaluate the extent to which recommendations from the Auditor General and Audit Committee have been implemented and also promotes good governance, transparency and accountability.
The committee considers SDBIP reports, recommends any investigation in its area of competence to the council and also requests information from councillors through the office of the speaker and from employees through the office of the municipal manager and the relevant members of the mayoral committee be informed accordingly.
MPAC performs any other function assigned to it by the council.
Ms Jordaan said council adopts recommendations or actions that need to be taken by the municipality then refer it to the office of the municipal manager for the implementation.
