A total of 92% of Gauteng Provincial Government’s departments achieved unqualified audit opinions in 2011/2012 financial year.
This indicates that significant progress is being made towards achieving clean audit outcomes by 2014 in line with the targets set by Operation Clean Audit (OPCA).
“Our strategies are yielding positive results, we are addressing audit findings that prevent the achievement of desired results. We have also eliminated adverse audit findings and disclaimers in all our public entities. However we understand that we need to do more to achieve OPCA,” Gauteng Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe said.
OPCA is the initiative of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs which is aimed at ensuring that all municipalities and provincial government departments in nine provinces achieve clean audit outcomes on their financial statements by 2014.
GPG has 16 public entities; seven achieved clean audits, eight were unqualified (financially unqualified with other matters) and only the Gauteng Liquor Board was qualified during the period under review.
The seven public entities who achieved clean audit reports (financially unqualified with no other matters) were the Automotive Industrial Development Company, Innovation Hub, Newtown Development Company, IDZ Development Company, Cradle of Humankind World Heritage, Dinokeng and Gauteng Partnership Fund.
This year’s audit outcomes report also shows that no department received either an adverse opinion or disclaimer opinion. Only the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development received a qualified audit during the period under review. The opinion for Department of Health and Social Development is an improvement from previous years and Gauteng Provincial Treasury is working closely with the department to address material issues that result in the failure to achieve a desired audit outcome.
“We need to improve compliance with regulations such as the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulations. This will ensure that our departments move from unqualified to clean audits. Also the internal control environment must be enhancing through the development and enforcement of policies and procedures in areas such as financial and asset management. We continue to work with departments to ensure that this is achieved,” Nkomfe said.
“Strengthening financial management to achieve operational efficiency is our goal. Therefore we are committed to supporting departments and our public entities to achieve clean audits; this will ensure that there is transparency and accountability in government and that ultimately leads to improvement in service delivery to our people,” he added.
Gauteng Provincial Treasury is implementing a number of key measures to improve financial management in the province:
- Training and development of staff in the Offices of Chief Financial Officers;
- Auditing interim financial statements,
- Monthly monitoring of expenditure against budget to assist departments in anticipating unauthorised expenditure and putting measures to prevent same.
Enquiries:
John Sukazi
Cell: 083 772 4885
E-mail: john.sukazi@gauteng.gov.za
Desiree Ntshingila
Cell: 072 646 6054
E-mail: desiree.ntshingila@gauteng.gov.za
