No clean audits in EC

Picture: MORGUEFILE

THE auditor-general has once again been unable to give even one of the Eastern Cape’s  45 municipalities a clean audit.

In fact the AG states the municipalities have  regressed further in their 2011-2012 audit outcomes  since the 2010-2011 financial year.

Audit reports from 29 of the 45 municipalities  seen by the Daily Dispatch show t just more than  R2-billion has either been spent irregularly by  councils or was spent without authorisation.

The other 16 municipalities have yet to table their  audit reports to their councils although the deadline was January31 as stipulated by the Municipal  Systems Act.

This means the amount reflected for irregular  and unauthorised expenditure in the AG’s reports  could end up being a lot more.

Provincial AG  Singa Ngqwala’s  latest report on  movements in  audit outcomes  for 2011-2012 – a  year before the  envisaged 2014  operation clean  audit target  deadline –  shows none of  the councils obtained a financially unqualified audit  with no findings.

Ngqwala said nine municipalities had unqualified  audits but with findings – from 13 in the previous  financial year.

Three of these had regressed to a qualified opinion and one to an adverse opinion.

There are 19 councils with a qualified opinion, an  increase from the previous 17.

Of those 19, eleven remained unchanged and five  improved from disclaimers and adverse opinions.

Outcomes for 13 councils who earlier earned adverse opinions or disclaimers with findings remain  unchanged.

During 2011-2012 they were joined by four more  municipalities, three of which had regressed from  qualified opinions and one from an unqualified  opinion.

Reacting to Ngqwala’s report, local government  and traditional affairs MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane said  he was disturbed by the regressions and by the fact  that once again none of the 45 had clean audits. He  added the audit outcomes suggested an administrative decline.

Qoboshiyane said he was now pinning his hopes  on his department’s “operation clean audit unit”,  which focuses on municipalities with adverse and  disclaimer audit opinions, to turn things around.

“Our team of specialists will provide intensive  support to municipalities in implementing their  specific clean audit plans.

“We have helped municipalities to develop and  own their clean audit plans so there is more commitment to this programme.

“We will also enter into agreements with municipalities on areas of support which our officials  deployed to municipalities would accentuate,” Qoboshiyane said.

Asked about action to be taken on the constant  failure by municipalities to account for public  funds, Qoboshiyane said his department only afforded support to these councils while implementation remained their responsibility.

“Municipalities now have Municipal Public Account Committees (MPAC) and Audit Committees.  The latter has a duty to ensure compliance with the  former tasked with ensuring accountability.

“Sadly, we have seen incidents where some  MPACs ignore matters for a long time while in  Mbhashe Municipality, the MPAC was used to gather information to overthrow the mayor. This was  not the responsibility of the MPAC; theirs was to  ensure accountability.

“Municipal councillors have a duty to ensure the  executive and officials and the council account for  daily activities ,” the MEC said.

He said he would work with all mayors to address the situation but where there was no alternative he would use the powers bestowed on him  by the Constitution and other laws of the land.

The vacancy rate in municipalities was one of the  challenges, he added, saying his focus would be to  increase the pace in closing the vacancy rate in all  municipalities.

“I caution municipalities not to employ people  who just know basic calculations but to find people  who understand financial management, accounting,  financial regulations and financial management  laws,” he said.

In a report presented by Qoboshiyane to the ANC  provincial executive lekgotla in East London last  weekend, he revealed 12% of all managerial positions were vacant. Six municipalities are without  chief financial officers.

Qoboshiyane recommended to the party’s lekgotla municipalities that were financially unviable  should be incorporated into other municipalities  “for effective service delivery”. — asandan@dispatch.co.za