THE eThekwini Municipality is calling on the public to comment on the Draft Annual Report for the 2013/14 financial year.
The report is a legislated requirement that details the performance of the municipality over this period.
The report was tabled at a full council meeting on 29 January, following a presentation of the municipality’s audit outcomes by the office of the KwaZulu-Natal Auditor General (AG).
The AG’s representative, Merusha Vather, confirmed the municipality had once again received an unqualified audit opinion for the 2013/14 financial year with certain matters of emphasis.
The municipality’s two entities, uShaka Marine Theme Park and the Nkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, received clean audits.
While the municipality received an unqualified report, Vather emphasised various issues that needed to be addressed, which included legal claims lodged against the city, amounting to R904.89-million, material water losses amounting to R602.6-million (131 021 634 kilolitres) and bad debt provision of R2,01-billion.
Material underspending of conditional grants received from the Department of Transport by R819,69-million in respect of the implementation of the Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) was also mentioned. She also raised the under-spending of the capital budget by R505.36-million as a result of delays experienced in the Go!Durban Project and the IRPTN project.
Mayor, James Nxumalo, said: “The municipality welcomes the presentation by the Auditor General, which proves that a lot of progress has been made in addressing some of the issues and closing some of the gaps that were identified.”
While there are numerous achievements, he acknowledged the challenges highlighted by the Auditor General and committed to continue to address them.
The overall performance of the municipality during the 2013/14 financial year was found to be commendable, with a revenue collection rate of 104.84 per cent – this supersedes every other municipality in South Africa.
Close scrutiny of irregular expenditure has paid off as evidenced by the drastic reduction from R782.5-million in January 2012 to R334-million in the 2013/14 financial year, resulting in a 57.2 per cent reduction. This is a giant step towards achieving the ultimate target of receiving a clean audit.
The municipality would like to encourage communities and stakeholders to comment on the Draft Annual Report before 1 March.
The report is available at the City Hall, City Libraries and Sizakala Centres for consideration and comments. It is also available on the municipal website, www.durban.gov.za.
Comments may be submitted to Gonie Dorasamy by email gonie.dorasamy@durban.gov.za, or call 031 322 7205.
