Gauteng audit celebrations not reflective of service delivery, says Msimanga

Gauteng’s financial statements may not match the view from the ground, according to the province’s opposition leader.

Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s provincial government celebrated a host of clean audits this weekend at an awards ceremony in Sandton.

The figures would suggest a tight fiscal belt around the province’s waist but the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga, suggests there are other metrics with which to gauge the fitness of life in the economic hub.

21 clean audit opinions

The Premier presented department officials with certificates and mementoes on 6 October to mark the positive financial results.

Seven departments and 14 entities achieved clean audit opinions, meaning there were no adverse findings relating to performance or non-compliance.

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Likewise, seven departments and four entities achieved unqualified audit opinions.

The Auditor-General of South Africa defines unqualified audit opinions as statements where “findings have been raised on either reporting on predetermined objectives or non-compliance with legislation, or both these aspects”.

While impressed with the number of improvements, Lesufi urged provincial leadership to continue the momentum.

“We need to encourage them to work hard to get the clean audit. We also need to pay our service providers within 30 days and support the departments that are struggling,” he stated.

📸Gauteng Clean Audit Awards. pic.twitter.com/Ryzmb5XMEr

— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) October 6, 2024

Measure impact of money spent

Financial audits may mean little to residents of the province who battle through dead traffic lights, potholed roads and other basic service delivery challenges.

Msimanga has challenged the premier to release the Quality of Life survey, something the DA provincial leader believes is a more accurate barometer of socio-economic success.

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He added that the numbers reflected on financial statements are cold and impersonal, and don’t speak to the reality of life on the ground.

“There must be a way of measuring the impact of services delivered, not measuring the amount of money spent because if you do not measure the impact, you are doing an injustice to those who are meant to receive those services,” Msimanga told The Citizen.

Regarding the Quality of Life survey, provincial government spokesperson Sizwe Pamla confirmed to The Citizen, that “The premier has been briefed, and it will be released later this month”.

By the numbers

The results were based on the financial statements from the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) Annual Performance Report for the financial year ending on 31 March 2024.

The report was signed off by GPL acting Accounting Officer Linda Mwale, who stated that the GPL achieved 91% of its targets while spending 92% of its budget.

The statements contain a detailed breakdown of operating expenditures, revealing areas with large expenditures.

Over the reported financial year, the Gauteng government spent R16 million on consulting fees, R9.7 million on advertising and R22.8 million on workshops, functions and public hearings.

Additionally, it spent R62 million on travel and accommodation, R8.3 million on telephone and data services and R7.9 million on outsourcing its Hansard recordings.

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The province spent R18.9 million on remuneration packages for 11 department directors, with a R522 million line item attributed to ‘Employee costs’.

As for fruitless, wasteful and irregular expenditure, the audit report reported a combined figure of R1.03 million

Lifestyle audits

Opposition leaders have been calling for lifestyle audits. The premier confirmed that 19 lifestyle audits for accounting officers had been conducted by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

“We have concluded this process, and the report has been presented to the premier. We found that 37% of the audited accounting officers were high risks or they failed the test.

“16 % were found to be medium risk while 47% were low risk. We require that action must be taken against those that failed,” stated SIU Chief Executive Officer Andy Mothibi.