SALGA pleased with its Municipal Audit Support Program which contributed meaningfully towards positive audit outcome improvements

Posted: 02 June 2016

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SALGA Deputy Chairperson Councillor Mpho Nawa says SALGA is encouraged by the bold and correct initiatives of committing municipalities to implement a National Anti-Corruption strategy and to adopt consequences & accountability framework in November 2013 at an Anti-Corruption Summit, is bearing positive results.

Councillor Nawa says it was at that Anti-Corruption Summit where all municipalities pledged to fight and expose all forms of maladministration and corruption in their municipalities and implement consequences management system on incidences of wrong doing. As a result of the first year of implementing this framework in 2013/14 financial year, the AG reported in that year's results that more than 50% of municipalities implemented consequences and accountability framework and systems by taking action against wrong doing in their administrations.

Councillor Nawa says the current 2014/15 years results by the AG demonstrates a growing increase trend to 60% of municipalities that implemented consequences management systems and taking action against wrong doing. It means our capacity building investment is delivering positive results and SALGA will intensify its support measures until such time that all municipalities implement 100% consequences for wrong doing to deter incidences of maladministration and corruption.

Councillor Nawa says SALGA is also most pleased that our Municipal Audit Support Program (MASP) contributed meaningfully towards these improvements. The MASP focused on those municipalities who obtained adverse audit opinions, disclaimers of audit opinions and those municipalities whose audits were not finalised by the legislated deadline.

He says these municipalities were categorized as “red zone” municipalities and they numbered 60 based on the 2013/14 audit outcomes. The number of red zone municipalities has decreased to 39 and this trajectory needs to be maintained while at the same time ensuring that there is no regression of those municipalities who have migrated out of the red zone.

Councillor Nawa says since the launch of the MASP SALGA has provided transversal support to all red zone municipalities in the form of Councillor Capacity Building Workshops, Revenue Management workshops, Revenue Enhancement workshops, Debt Management Workshops, Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) Workshops and Internal Audit workshops.