GMM gets a third qualified audit opinion with findings
The Auditor-General’s office also found that the municipality has failed to apply consequence management to the unauthorised and wasteful expenditures that were not investigated.
Irregular wasteful expenditure and not opening cases against corrupt officials were the Auditor-General’s findings that led to the Govan Mbeki Municipality again receiving a qualified audit opinion.
This announcement was made at the first municipal council meeting on January 29 in the Secunda council chamber.
The Auditor-General also found the municipality has failed to apply consequence management to the unauthorised and wasteful expenditures for not investigating it.
Opposition parties are unhappy with the audit outcome because of the irregular and wasteful expenditure reported in all the Auditor-General reports on the municipality, which include not opening cases against the corrupt officials.
EFF councillor Wilson Chauke said they are tired that the Auditor-General’s office annually visits the council with the same message of the municipality’s wrongdoing.
“We are always fighting with the executive council, who protects the corrupt officials like those implicated in the Section 106 forensic investigation.
“Every time we have to discuss the report, we fight because some councillors defend those implicated officials. How can we discuss the issue in the presence of the alleged culprits?
“We were told they were cleared from wrongdoing, but is the Auditor-General now lying?” asked Chauke.
James Masango from the DA said the municipality is not moving forward in terms of audit outcomes.
“The DA noted the audit outcome received by the municipality. Our concern is that this is the third year the municipality has received a qualified audit opinion stipulating wasteful and irregular expenditure.
“The misstatement is a yearly issue. The DA wants to see action taken against those involved in irregular expenditures.
“For too long, we allowed the workers to continue with corruption and nothing has been done. The Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) also does not assist us. The municipal manager must also open corruption cases against the perpetrators of irregular expenditure,” said Masango.
The African Transformation Movement provincial chairperson, John Nkosi, said it has been a problem for the municipality to get qualified audit opinions for the past three years.
Nkosi said it is proven that the Section 79 committees are failing to do their work.
“By releasing the audit opinion, the Auditor-General highlights to the municipality what has been done wrong and where to fix it. This proves our municipality is not serious about accountability – year in and year out there is fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
“We need to account for public funds,” said Nkosi.
The municipal manager, Elliot Maseko, told the council that six cases were opened against cashiers allegedly stealing municipal money.
