The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Polokwane is concerned that yet another predictable qualified audit opinion was submitted by the Auditor-General for the financial year ending 30 June 2021 for noting.
The last unqualified report was during the 2015/2016 year. The past 12 years have yielded 2 disclaimer reports, 8 qualified opinions and only 2 unqualified reports.
This is not a good track record for the cash-strapped ANC-led capital city of Limpopo.
Poor asset management, insufficient record keeping and understated revenue of R124 716 941 are to blame for the unqualified audit opinion.
Some of the additional items highlighted by the Auditor-General – many of which is repeated annually – include the following:
- Reasonable steps were not taken to prevent unauthorised (R614 252 938) & irregular (R72 934 604) expenditure;
- Some contracts were extended/modified without the approval of a properly delegated official;
- Performance of some contractors was not sufficiently monitored on a monthly basis;
- Contract performance and monitoring measures were not in place to ensure effective contract management;
- Once again, no investigations were made to determine if any person is to be held liable for expenditure relating to unauthorised and irregular expenditure;
- Ineffective internal controls for debtors and revenue.
What lies at the heart of all the yearly inadequacies of the administration, is the lack of proper supervision, internal controls and consequence management.
The DA reiterates that without sufficient supervision and management, as well as proper consequence management, Polokwane Municipality is bound to keep repeating the mistakes of the past term.
It is not acceptable that for the residents of Polokwane such poor management unavoidably means less services at escalated prices.
We will continue to champion for the implementation of good corporate governance and be the voice of reason for the residents of Polokwane.
It is not by chance that the top five municipalities in South Africa are DA-led. Where we govern, we govern well.