Preparations to help ensure that municipalities improve their audit standing have been welcomed by the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. “The committee welcomes the plans put forward today and we hope that they will come to fruition. We will monitor their implementation closely as they have a direct impact on service delivery” said Chairperson, Mr Matome Humphrey Mokgobi.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) together with National Treasury outlined how they will support municipalities in improving their current audit outcomes. The response to the 2009/10 audit outcomes follows the Auditor-General’s report in which only seven of the 237 audited municipalities received a thumbs up for their audits.
According to CoGTA’s Executive Manager responsible for Operation Clean Audit Mr Mzilikazi Manyike, “the department will continue with the establishment of Municipal Public Accounts Committees to promote good governance, transparency and accountability on the use of municipal resources.” He said the department would also support municipalities to establish internal audit unit and audit committees, and monitor the outcomes.
National Treasury’s Mr TV Pillay said his department would provide financial management support to ensure that municipalities improved their budgeting, reporting and risk management compliance. As part of creating a pool of financially astute people at municipal level, the department was encouraging municipalities to take on financial management graduates as interns over a two year period, with the intention of appointing them.
“To date there are 1 300 financial management interns appointed to municipalities across the country,” Mr Pillay said. Mr Mokgobi expressed concern at the pace at which municipalities were moving: “While there is a positive move toward clean audit 2014, it is equally concerning that you still get municipalities regressing instead of improving” he added.
Enquiries:
Temba Gubula
Tel: 021 403 8307
Fax: 021 403 3931
Cell: 078 735 8809
E-mail: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
Source: Parliament of South Africa
Plans for Clean Audit in 2014
