ETHEKWINI Municipality’s improvement in dealing with reports from the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU) was raised at Tuesday’s meeting of the Executive Committee where the Audit Committee’s report, outlining the city’s perfomance across a number of areas, was tabled..
The report stated that the number of unimplemented matters from CIIU had decreased from 474 cases during April to June 2019 to 369 cases during July to September 2019.
“There is a noticeable improvement in the number of unimplemented CIIU cases. The Audit Committee was able to observe the progress made by management during the period and we hope that the trend will continue,” the report stated.
The report also noted the positive impact the hosting of events has had on the City’s economy. These events included the Vodacom Durban July which had an estimated GDP contribution of R288 million, the Bio Africa Convention with an estimated GDP contribution of R2.8 million, Joyous Celebration with an estimated GDP contribution of R22.3 million and and the Durban Heritage Carnival with an estimated GDP contribution of R1.6 million.
While the report commended the impact hosting the events has had on the City, the committee expressed concern that none of the events were anchored by the City and therefore the City’s ability to increase the economic impact made through tourism was dependent on third parties. The committee recommended that the City should facilitate and anchor more events to supplement the existing ones, using the City’s available infrastructure.
Regarding challenges in the City, the report suggested that the City develop a policy that will define acceptable losses for water and electricity.
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In terms of irregular expenditure, the committee reiterated the significance of consequence management on matters associated with irregularities. A further suggestion by the committee was the development of a comprehensive ICT strategy to address areas of concern such as the City’s plans regarding the fourth industrial revolution and the City’s direction regarding Cloud’s computing.
It further recommended that the City act decisively to deal with non-compliant buildings, taking corrective action against wrongdoers. The report applauded the City’s numerous plans to address problem buildings, crime hotspots and improve overall cleanliness in the City and urged the effective implementation of these plans.
The Audit Committee, an independent advisory body, advises Council on matters relating to internal financial control, internal audit, risk management processes, financial reporting, performance management, governance, compliance with laws and regulations and other issues referred by the Municipality and its entities.
City Manager Sipho Nzuza said they had engaged with the Audit Committee on a number of issues raised in the report to ensure they were implemented.
“I assure you we are following up on the matters including the reports from CIIU,” he said.
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