Members of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) delegation to the Western Cape will devise a plan aimed at ensuring that all municipalities in the province receive clean audit outcomes by 2014.
As part of oversight function, for the past three days, the delegation has been assessing financial management and internal controls against irregular, fruitless, wasteful or unauthorised expenditure in various municipalities. This formed part of the NCOP Provincial Week programme, a key mechanism established by the NCOP to achieve its mandate of representing the country’s provinces in the national sphere.
This year, the NCOP is focusing on assessing what municipalities have done and are doing to achieve clean audit outcomes by 2014. Delegation leader, Mr Michael de Villiers said a lot of work was required to achieve clean audits by 2014.
He said some municipalities such as Swellendam, together with the Office of the Auditor General, managed to put programmes in place to address historical and recent challenges. He said the delegation was told that the administration of the Swellendam Municipality was currently delivering services to ratepayers without a problem.
Here are some findings of the NCOP delegation based on the interaction with several municipalities:
- Supply Chain Management issues
- Staff in Finance Department not capacitated to fulfil duties
- Critical vacancies exist and cannot be filled because of Council issues
- Problems with statutory compliance and timeframes
- Lack of political and administrative stabilit.
Mr De Villiers said Swartland and West Coast municipalities were exemplary. The two municipalities received clean audits according to the Auditor-General’s report. Some municipalities that the NCOP delegation interacted with are Overberg, Swellendam, Cape Agulhas, Overstrand and Theewaterskloof.
For media inquiries or interviews with the leader of the delegation, please contact:
Mlindi Mpindi
Cell: 073 197 1315
Tel: 021 403 2340
E-mail: mmpindi@parliament.gov.za
