MEC Ngomane welcomes AGSA Report on Municipal Audit Outcomes
Thursday, 27 June 2019
MEC NGOMANE WELCOMES AGSA REPORT ON MUNICIPAL AUDIT OUTCOMES
27 June 2019 - The MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Pat Ngomane has expressed his concern on the recent municipal audit outcomes for the Province.
This follows the release of the Consolidated General Report on the Local Government Audit outcomes on Wednesday, (26 June 2019) by the Auditor General of SA, Mr. Kimi Makwetu.
MEC Ngomane said: "After the encouraging results of the 2016/17 financial year during which Mpumalanga showed the most improvement amongst the provinces on municipal audits, the report for the 2017/18 financial year points to an unfortunate setback for our efforts.”
The Provincial Treasury is committed to assisting municipalities to improve accountability and reporting on all fronts, especially on financial management aspects of the work Municipalities do.
“We will continue to engage all relevant role-players at all levels of the provincial government system to get to the bottom of the persistent challenges of non-compliance with the laws of our country and gaps in the control environment within Municipalities as individual institutions", said MEC Ngomane.
The Provincial Treasury has since December 2018 dispatched multi-disciplinary teams of officials to assist municipalities in addressing issues that the Auditor General raised in the management letters of each municipality.
MEC Ngomane has however reiterated that the management of each municipality must take responsibility for the audit outcomes and display a sufficient level of ethics and accountability akin to the position of authority bestowed upon them.
“Ensuring that municipalities are effectively managed and that resources are not misused or misappropriated is a task that cannot be taken lightly, more so in the tough economic times we are facing and where our people long for quality services”, said MEC Ngomane.
The Provincial Treasury has been working with Municipalities since they individually received their audit outcomes in December 2018.
All Municipalities have received a detailed analysis and feedback on their action plans together with recommendations for improvement which are being monitored by the Provincial Treasury together with Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and South African Local Government Association (SALGA) in the Province.