LIMPOPO – Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) has, for a third consecutive year received an unqualified audit outcome.
CDM Spokesperson, Moffat Senyatsi explains that an unqualified audit outcome means the Auditor-General (AG) is satisfied that CDM’s finances are in order and has complied with municipal finance management laws and treasury regulations. Furthermore, it means that every cent that has been spent was accounted for and that CDM’s annual performance report is credible.
“It is a wish of every institution to want to achieve good audit performance, but there is a lot of hard work, expertise and commitment that go into achieving it. It is more than just about accounting. It is about compliance and accountability”, Executive Mayor, John Mpe said during a council meeting on Monday 30 January.
Mpe explained that such a great achievement did not come easily given the circumstances and conditions under which the administration performed in that reporting period. “This included the staff turnover in management, the resignation of the chief financial officer, the acting capacities across management and other adverse factors,” he said.
In the previous financial year when the municipality received the same audit outcome, the acting municipal manager Thuso Nemugumoni vowed, at the time, that CDM was committed to sustaining the audit performance and that would inspire the municipality to work even harder and smart towards clean audit. A year later, the office of AG was again pleased with CDM’s financial position and gave the municipality unqualified audit opinion for the financial year 2015/16.
“This means that we are succeeding in the implementation of our internal controls and how we report. The fact that we managed to satisfy the AG yet again in this reporting period means we are getting the basics right, and thanks to our sound financial management systems and strong political will”, Mpe said.
In his audit findings, the Auditor-General found that CDM’s financial statements presented fairly, in all material respects, the financial position and the financial performance of the Capricorn District Municipality as at 30 June 2016.
The Auditor-General did not identify any recurring deficiencies in CDM’s financial reporting but rather matters that should be attended to, so that the municipality can make advances towards clean audit.
