ANC and EFF bicker over auditor-general’s report on Ekurhuleni’s finances

The ANC in the City of Ekurhuleni has expressed disappointment in the poor outcome of the auditor-general’s (AG) report on the municipality’s finances.

Wasteful and fruitless expenditure

On Tuesday council tabled the AG’s reports which indicated fruitless and waste expenditure from the municipality.

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According to the AG, a total of R516 million irregular expenditure was reported. A total of R81 million worth of fruitless expenditure was also found.

The ANC said this led to the city receiving an unclean audit for the period 2022/2023.

ANC Chief Whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi said another reason for the poor audit was the contravention of supply chain management, inappropriate use of regulation 32 and the lack of value for money.

“The disappointing audit outcome signals a lapse in the internal controls that were maturing and subsequently producing the back-to-back clean audit during the ANC-led City of Ekurhuleni,” Dlabathi.

 Dlabathi said there was poor political oversight in the management of the municipality’s finances.

“The audit outcomes confirms that observation about the sudden lack of prudent political oversight on matters of finance and supply chain management.”

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Dlabathi also said the DA, which was part of the management of the city before the ANC-EFF coalition, should take some responsibility for the poor audit outcomes.

“It should be stated that the DA-led coalition presided over 10 months of the 2022/2023 financial year and should jointly and largely take full responsibility of the regression, given that these irregular and fruitless expenditures were under their watch,” he said.

EFF responds to AG report

On the other hand, the EFF had a completely different view of the AG’s report into the municipalities finances.

“The EFF Gauteng welcomes the audit findings and applauds the commendable efforts of its representatives in the City of Ekurhuleni,” the party said.

It said the municipality had received an unqualified audit report which indicated sound financial management and reporting practices.

“The report issues by the Auditor-General of South Africa and ratified by the City Council effectively counters baseless allegations by certain political groups. These allegations suggested that the City of Ekurhuleni had neglected to submit its financial statements. The ANC concealed the Auditor-General’s findings from the public,” the statement said.