Following the municipality’s plan to change the underlying issues resulting in the disclaimer opinion received for the 2015-16 financial year, the opposition party slashed back with a mouthful.
The Emalahleni Local Municipality managed to submit their statements to the Auditor General (AG) in time and highlighted various issues the AG was not happy with and how they are going to deal with it.
Mr Kingdom Mabuza, municipal spokesperson said the municipality did not sit and ponder about the remarks by the AG, but instead implemented various initiatives to rectify the wrongs. These matters were contained in an Audit Remedial action plan, which are nearly fully executed. The plan deals specifically with the main concerns as reflected by the AG.
The AG’s latest report was released on June 21 and it reflects on the previous financial year.
“Emalahleni Municipality is still stuck with the same things that the AG outlined in 2014/2015 already. Unfortunately nothing has improved and the AG once again came to a conclusion that he could not form an opinion due to unavailability of records, no evidence and no paper trail to allow him to form an opinion which resulted in Emalahleni and Thaba Chweu Municipalities getting a disclaimer audit opinion,” Democratic Alliance Mpumalanga Chairperson, Jane Sithole MPL said.
She was adamant that the way the municipality is run has not improved.
Jane Sithole.
She referred to the AG’s, Kimi Makwetu that reported minimal improvements in the audit results of South Africa’s municipalities for the past financial year.
“Makwetu said overall the local government had failed to maintain the momentum. 14 municipalities had lost their clean audit opinions and only nine joined the category of clean audits across the country. Only 49 municipalities achieved clean audits across the country. The audit outcomes of municipalities shows 67% of municipalities audit outcomes across the country remained unchanged and Emalahleni is one of them,” Sithole said
The AG called for leadership accountability. He highlighted the importance of accountability in the management of municipal affairs, starting with appropriate planning focused on the needs of citizens, instituting appropriate internal control and supervision that will ensure proper financial and performance management.
“Fit for purpose, qualified and competent people must be placed in positions of responsibility across our state institutions. It is only when we stringently apply the law, have strong internal controls and give due regard to the recommendations of the AG that we may decisively deal with fruitless and wasteful, irregular and unauthorised expenditure which, if left unattended, become pathways to corruption, maladministration and unethical behaviour,” Sithole said.
She said the DA welcomes the systems put in place by the Emalahleni Municipality to address those shortcomings as identified by the AG and the DA will be monitoring the situation very closely.
“Our councilors will work with anyone who puts the residents of Emalahleni first,” she concluded.
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https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/95930/action-plan-aimed-getting-clean-audit/
