Pretoria - Nineteen departments and public entities of the Gauteng Provincial Government have achieved clean audit status for the 2014/15 financial year.
Furthermore, no unauthorised expenditure was incurred by the province during this period, said Premier David Makhura on Tuesday, when he revealed the findings of the Auditor-General’s Report.
Premier Makhura said the results are an indication that Gauteng is well on track towards achieving its goal of establishing credible financial control systems and ultimately realising 100 percent clean audits.
“The Auditor General’s report shows that our province is increasingly making good in managing its finances,” he said.
The Premier said the implementation of firm action plans has helped to strengthen financial management in some departments that have achieved clean audits.
He also attribute the success to the continuously improving financial management capacity and practices; taking corrective action to tackle poor performance and a strong political will to build a culture of accountability and excellence.
The departments that achieved clean audits include the Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature, Treasury, Social Development, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Finance and Economic Development.
The public entities that achieved clean audits include Dinokeng, Gauteng Film Commission, Gautrain Management Agency, Gauteng Partnership Fund, IDZ Development Company, Constitutional Hill Precinct, Innovation Hub, Greater Newtown Development Company, the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, Tourism Authority, Gambling Board and Supplier Park Development Company.
While this sustained improvement is commendable, Premier Makhura said he was conscious of the fact that more work still needs to be done, particularly in the area of compliance with rules and regulations as identified by the Auditor General.
“I am deeply concerned about the increase in irregular expenditure due to a failure to comply with laws that govern financial management in the public sector.”
Human Settlements was one of the main contributors to this, according to the Premier.
Among the reasons was that the department spent money meant for building new houses, fixing asbestos roofs damaged by hailstorms and a clean-up of previous year’s qualification issues.
Shifting the Human Settlements budget to deal with disaster is something that should never be repeated, the Premier emphasised.
Premier Makhura said investigations will begin to identify officials whose actions have led to financial irregularities.
“We are absolutely committed to running a clean administration that is accountable, responsive and transparent.”
Among other steps to achieve this, the province is rolling out the Open Tender initiative to all departments in the province to, amongst other things, minimise issues of non-compliance with supply chain management processes. - SAnews.gov.za
