ETHEKWINI Municipality has achieved a clean audit for good governance and service delivery along with its two municipal entities, uShaka Marine World and the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.
This is the first time eThekwini Municipality has achieved a clean audit but the second for the two entities as both received a clean audit last year. The report comes from the Audit Outcomes for KZN Municipalities for the 2014/15 financial year.
In his audit findings, the Auditor General found that the financial statements for eThekwini Municipality were free of material misstatements. In addition, there were no material of non-compliance with key legislation. It further found that the city’s report was presented in a useful and reliable manner as measured against predetermined objectives in the annual performance plan.
The consolidated financial performance indicators show that the municipality is in a healthy fiscal position, which reflects the city’s strong commitment to the principles of accountability, transparency, anti-corruption, proper financial management and effective internal control systems. The announcement of the clean audit report was made at the executive committee meeting on Wednesday, 2 December and the news was warmly welcomed by the committee.
Deputy Mayor, Cllr Nomvuzo Shabalala, who was chairing the meeting in Mayor James Nxumalo’s absence, said the city should be proud of the achievement.
“This is something to really be proud of. Congratulations to the team on achieving a clean audit. I am very excited about this as we achieved this while still focusing on service delivery,” she said.
City Manager Sibusiso Sithole agreed that it was a historic achievement. “It is the first time since eThekwini was established in 2000, that a clean audit has been achieved. A clean audit means that we have complied with the legislature of the country after submitting our financial records which were untainted. It indicates that we have done well with our performance management systems and that we have delivered as a city,” he said.
Sithole said their triumph was a result of dedication and teamwork. “Previously, we received unqualified audit outcomes. So to receive a clean audit is great. It was achieved due to a number of factors including the commitment of senior management including the mayor, executive committee, council and managers. We have also strengthened our internal audit processes as well as our supply-chain management processes,” he added.
Sithole thanked the dedicated staff who played a role in achieving this milestone but said the hard work was not over. “We worked together as a collective to contribute to this outcome. But we now have to focus on maintaining this achievement going forward. We will do this by filling of critical vacant posts such as deputy city manage vacancies and strengthening our City Integrity and Investigations Unit. We must also improve our communication with stakeholders and the community and minimise public protests,” he said.
He hopes to further curb irregular spending and bring it down to zero. “Only two employees were found to be doing business with the city amounting to R46 000. That is a dramatic decrease from the past when employees were doing business with the city to the value of R36 million. This is a dramatic reduction,” Sithole said.
Chairperson of the Finance and Procurement Committee, Fawzia Peer, said achieving the clean audit shows that funds were spent economically while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
