AG unable to obtain sufficient audit evidence for other revenues collected by GMM
Maladministration has flourished in this municipality, and the deceitful beneficiaries of cadre deployment have done nothing to counter this.
The DA in Mpumalanga said in a statement that the auditor general’s office was unable to obtain sufficient evidence for other revenues collected by the Govan Mbeki Municipality.
The DA said the municipality’s non-adherence to the Municipal Finance Management Act put it in disarray.
According to James Masango, the DA councillor in the GMM, the auditor-general’s report shows financial irregularities, as previously highlighted, that can be attributed to the failure to collect revenue.
“The municipality has failed to derive a plan on how the households not connected to the Eskom grid will be connected to meters for adequate billing.
“Uncollected revenue from these households without meters could go a long way in helping the municipality service its debt with major creditors like Rand Water and Eskom.
“For years the DA has called on the municipality to implement its debt and credit control policy. The municipality’s revenue is at an average of 60%, the loss of water is at 30%, and even more concerning, the electricity is at 70%,” explained Masango.
Private businesses and government entities at a provincial and national level are among the offenders not paying for services rendered. According to Masango, the municipality’s failure to act on this is unacceptable.
“As a result, the AG was unable to obtain sufficient audit evidence for other revenues collected by the municipality,” said Masango.
He said the financial statements submitted for the audit were not prepared per the Municipal Finance Management Act.
He also said that the municipality administration showed disregard for local government legislature to the extent that there were misstatements of assets, revenue, expenditure and disclosure items.
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Masango said it is more concerning that some supporting documents could not be provided, resulting in the AG handing the municipality a qualified report.
“The DA wants to express its despair at the Municipal Public Accounts Committee’s failure to successfully execute its mandate.
“Maladministration has flourished in this municipality, and the deceitful beneficiaries of cadre deployment have done nothing to counter this.”
The DA has written to the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Mandla Msibi, requesting that he assess the financial recovery plan that the provincial government adopted in 2018 because this municipality was also listed among those the department would look into.
“The DA will monitor the implementation of the financial recovery plan and continue to keep the municipality and MEC to account,” said Masango.
