No clean audit for Ekurhuleni

The DA fears that the metro is failing the consumers of Ekurhuleni.

Germiston mortuary badly affected by illegal strike. File image.

Amid the release of the Auditor General’s (AG) report, the DA stated that the report revealed ongoing alarming trends in Ekurhuleni regarding implementation and service delivery failure.

“The Auditor General’s report revealed material impairments based on the debtor’s book of 69 per cent.

“This means that over R10-billion of the debtors’ book is impaired and may not be collectable, up from R8-b in the previous year,” said DA spokesperson for Ekurhuleni Clr Bruce Reid.

According to reports, the material losses for electricity are in excess of R1.1-b and over 12 per cent of the total electricity purchased and the metro lost 30 per cent of the total water purchased from Rand Water through failing infrastructure and not billing. The total cost calculated was in excess of R787-million.

It was further highlighted in the AG’s report that effective steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure amounting to over R590-m.

Reid questioned the leadership within the metro saying, “This smacks of poor leadership, who failed to put in place internal control systems to ensure credible financial reporting and compliance with key legislation.”

The DA also added that by getting the basics right they could serve the residents of Ekurhuleni and they would continue to hold the metro accountable for the startling ongoing trends in order to bring about change to the residents of the metro.