INSIDE METROS STAFF|
THE City of Ekurhuleni has received a clean audit from the Auditor-General for the 2019/2020 financial year, the metro announced on Thursday.
The audit outcomes were tabled in a council meeting in Germiston, Ekurhuleni.
According to audit, the City of Ekurhuleni had no irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure for the past three consecutive years.
Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina said that the audit outcomes were results of the metro’s turnaround strategy coined “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 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Compliance with the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA) also served as a fundamental pillar of ‘Operation Clean Audit’
“I am delighted that our vision of receiving a clean audit opinion from the AG has finally come to fruition. 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 Covid-19 pandemic,” said Masina.
Masina added that to date, ‘Operation Clean Audit’ has produced a series of other positive results for the City of Ekurhuleni.
Amongst others, the metro has been able to achieve the following achievements through the turnaround strategy:
•The City of Ekurhuleni employed a suitably qualified City Manager and Group Chief Financial Officer who is also a certified Chartered Accountant;
•The City of Ekurhuleni has committed ZERO irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure for the past three consecutive years;
•The City of Ekurhuleni received three unqualified audit opinions from the AG over the past three straight years;
•The City of Ekurhuleni has maintained compliance with the mSCOA for the past three years;
•The City of Ekurhuleni has successfully introduced an Integrity Management Framework to reduce fraud and corruption in the City.
“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,” said Masina.
“With the systems we have introduced in the institution, 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.”
- Inside Metros