Pretoria – The North West MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Collen Maine, says he will take drastic action against municipalities that are not towing the line to better their financial audit outcomes.
The MEC said he has noted with great concern the 2012/13 Auditor-General audit outcomes of municipalities in the province, which did not get clean audits.
This comes as government aims to get all its municipalities in good financial standing.
MEC Maine said the fact that all municipalities in the province have submitted their financial statements on time for the past two consecutive years, cannot be a cause for celebration.
“It is still unacceptable that none of the 23 municipalities have received clean audits. We need to get to a point where these municipalities submit credible financial statements for audit purposes.
“Provincial Treasury and Enterprise Development will also assist municipalities to compile their annual financial statements and to address audit queries,” he said.
MEC Maine said work had already started ahead of the recent audit outcomes. This is in line with the plan announced by Premier Supra Mahumapelo in his State of the Province Address, to turn around state of municipalities in the province.
The provincial department will also go on a comprehensive province-wide skills audit across municipalities to establish the skills gap, and to see how best to improve the capability of municipal officials.
The department has formed partnerships with skills training organisations to train employees in the budget and treasury units of municipalities. This is aimed at closing down the accounting skills gap, as many people in municipal financial departments remain unqualified, under-skilled and untrained.
MEC Maine said after such training, officials will be expected to make a significant contribution in improving the financial management of their municipalities.
“They should ensure compliance with the standard, good financial conduct and ensure non-deviation from the Municipal Financial Management Act,” he said.
Furthermore, the department will continue to work with all stakeholders, including municipalities in order to improve the audit outcomes.
As part of addressing some of the issues previously raised by the Auditor-General, the department has:
- Established an inter-district records management forum to share best practises;
- Supplied record management equipment, such as software, storage and filing products, to needy municipalities;
- Trained records management practitioners in municipalities on an on-going;
- Compiled an audit action plan with municipalities every year to address issues raised; and
- Established Municipal Public Accounts Committees in all municipalities, with a specific role of performing oversight on performance of individual municipalities.
- SAnews.gov.za
