EKURHULENI approved the adjustment/midyear budget at the last council meeting.
The adjusted budget will unlock resources to improve service delivery in Ekurhuleni by reallocating funds to where it is needed. I would like to explain to readers that the adjustment budget takes money from projects that are not implemented or where there may be certain delays and reallocates the funds to projects that are well on track to improve the lives of our people.
Managing public resources is a very challenging environment as you exercise constant monitoring and evaluation to ensure that residents and ratepayers receive the optimal value from the municipal budget. I have been a councillor for the past 15 years and I have served on every financial committee of the City of Ekurhuleni. Balancing the budget is never easy but as the finance leadership we work with a dedicated team of officials that do their best to ensure the Ekurhuleni budget addresses the needs of our residents.
Ekurhuleni is financially well managed and we have received a clean audit opinion from the auditor general (AG) for the second consecutive year in a row. The auditor general, Kimi Makwetu, made this announcement at the end of January and a representative of the AG’s office tabled the clean audit report in council. The auditor general completed the annual audit as prescribed by Section 126(3) of the Municipal Finance Management Act, and gave Ekurhuleni a clean audit report.
A clean audit is the pinnacle of achievement in financial reporting and can only be achieved when the AG is satisfied that a municipality is 1) Financially unqualified 2) That there are no findings on pre-determined objectives and 3) No findings on compliance matters. This is a significant financial achievement and a victory for responsible and prudent financial management of the public resources entrusted to us by the people of Ekurhuleni.
I am very proud of the collective efforts of the finance leadership in Ekurhuleni and the hardworking officials that persisted in their challenging task of keeping the city coffers financially clean.
I want to give residents and ratepayers the assurance that we will work tirelessly to keep Ekurhuleni in the green and make sure that we receive our clean audit opinion once again next year. Residents can be assured that together we are building a better future for the city and for the people of Ekurhuleni.
