FINANCES
FOCUSED ON CLEAN GOVERNANCE
The City of Ekurhuleni has once again obtained a clean audit opinion from South Africa’s Auditor-General.
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t the end of March 2021, the City of Ekurhuleni proudly announced that it received an overall clean audit opinion from the Auditor-General (AG). This occurs when submitted financial statements are free from material misstatements and there are no material findings on reporting on performance objectives and noncompliance with legislation. In late 2016, the fifth administration of Ekurhuleni initiated a turnaround strategy for the City’s finances, named ‘Operation Clean Audit’. The interventions introduced by the plan included a skills review of personnel working within the Finance Department, monthly reconciliations of key accounts, stringent policy implementation checklists and an agile framework for responding to legislative developments, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Compliance with the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA) also served as a fundamental pillar of the strategy.
INTERNAL CHECKS AND BALANCES The City’s Audit Committee conducted quarterly reviews of internal processes and interrogated the City’s performance 8
EKURHULENI 2021
to ensure that the administration remained committed to improving the control environment. This oversight from the Audit Committee contributed to the effectiveness of the turnaround strategy that has brought about the positive audit outcomes. Operation Clean Audit has produced a series of positive results for the City of Ekurhuleni, including the following achievements: • T he City employed a suitably qualified City Manager and Group Chief Financial Officer who is also a certified Chartered Accountant. • T he City has committed to zero irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure for the past three consecutive years. • T he City has received unqualified audit opinions from the AG over the past three years. • T he City has maintained compliance with the mSCOA for the past three years. • T he City has successfully introduced an Integrity Management Framework to reduce fraud and corruption.
RENEWED COMMITMENT As we begin to enter a post-Covid-19
era, it has become so much more important for government institutions to provide ethical and honest governance over state funds, explained Executive Mayor Masina. “Every cent of the taxpayer’s hard-earned money must go towards revitalising our local economy and providing the necessary relief and public services for households to recover from the impact of the pandemic.” He added, “As our term of office comes to an end as the fifth administration of the City of Ekurhuleni, this clean audit outcome must stand as a benchmark for the incoming administration. With the systems we have introduced, the focus must turn to building a resilient city that can leverage the opportunities presented in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and withstand the shocks brought forward by potential future global pandemics, uncertain global polity and climate change. I want to take this opportunity to thank the political and administrative leadership of the City, our coalition partners and Council for their commitment to clean governance.”
