The Department of Water Affairs is pleased to have received an unqualified audit from the Auditor-General for the financial year ended March 2009. This is the first time in the past four successive years that the department has been given a clean audit by the Auditor-General.
The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica said, “This is a good and encouraging outcome. I compliment the dedication and commitment of the department, to deliver such prudence in its work around the finances of the department.
“All the hard work and commitment to clean, governance over this period has paid off and I would like to urge that we keep the standard high for the sake of South Africa and its people,” she said.
Previously the Auditor-General had even declined to give an opinion on the department’s financial statements, In his current report the he noted that “the department’s financial statements presented fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the department, its financial performance and cash flows, in accordance with accepted accounting practices.”
In addition the Auditor-General found that the department had complied with most of the requirements as set out in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and that executive management had exercised adequate internal financial controls during the said period.
Minister Buyelwa Sonjica says these findings bear testimony to the success of internal programmes instituted in 2007 that overhauled the department’s finances.
The initiative was a direct response to the qualified audit received by the Department for the 2006/07 financial year. The Enterprise Wide Asset Management (EWAM) project comprised work on the verification and valuation of major water infrastructure assets with a view to producing a complete and verified asset management register including the establishment of relevant asset management policies for the trading account.
At the same time a sister project was initiated to re-engineer the trading account to be an effective and efficient business entity by enhancing its operations through the introduction of industry best practice.
The department believes these and other measures have resulted in the clean bill of health on its finances given by the Auditor-General for the first time in four years.
Enquiries:
Mava Scott
Cell: 082 411 9821
Tel: 012 336 8264
E-mail:scottm@dwaf.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs
14 September 2009
