The Internal Audit Directorate of COGTA recently hosted a two day Municipal Chief Audit Executive (CAE) Forum in Umtata. The forum was graced by the presence of representatives from the Auditor-General’s Office (AG), PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) and internal auditors from various municipalities and Operation Clean Audit (OCA) of the COGTA, reports Vuyolwethu Sigaji.
Delivering the purpose of the forum, the Senior Manager of Internal Audit, Ms Nonkululeko Kweyama said the forum was established for all internal auditors within municipalities in order to share best practices, successes and the challenges facing municipalities’ internal audit throughout the province. “The purpose of this forum is to take the effectiveness and performance of internal audit divisions within municipalities to a higher level in order to improve governance, controls and risk management processes thereby improving audit outcomes. The objective of the forum is also to formulate solutions for the identified problems”, said Ms Kweyama.
She further explained that the forum is intended to establish and maintain good working relations with all internal auditors within the province and to work together to find ways of ensuring that stakeholders understand the function of Internal Auditing. Ms Kweyama encouraged internal auditors to do their best in improving internal auditing systems, and work together for clean administration in local government.
The CAE from PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Mr Bulumnko Kwetama presented the State of the Audit Profession Study in South Africa. He said in this year’s findings there are significant differences of opinion between stakeholders and CAEs on the nature of what is expected of internal audit units. “We as internal auditors must work hard to change these perceptions, strategically build the right capabilities and raise Internal Audit’s performance and value. We must ensure that we develop an Internal Audit Communication Strategy in order to clearly communicate Internal Audits mandate to our internal stakeholders,” he said.
Mr Derek Ollsson from the AG’s office presenting the functions of the AG at the forum said in order for citizens to reap the benefits of a well- functioning local government, municipal councils must empower themselves with credible performance information.
He further said they should take ownership of developing and maintaining proper systems and processes for managing and reporting of service delivery information.
“This implies that leadership from municipalities must set up service delivery plans that can make an impact, regularly monitor service delivery reports. They should further ensure that corrective action is taken when actual performance is below expectations,” said Mr Ollsson.
