CLEAR ACTION LIST BEING IMPLEMENTED AND TRACKED TO ADDRESS AUDIT FINDINGS

January 6, 2023

With the City’s annual audit report having been reported on, I want to assure the residents of Tshwane that we take the findings of the Auditor-General very seriously.

In my last two years as Executive Mayor, the City has continuously received unqualified audits. The decline in the City’s audit performance is unacceptable and, as the political leadership, it is critical that we step up, take responsibility and ensure that we immediately plot a path towards achieving better audit outcomes.

I want to succinctly map out the actions that our administration has embarked on and that we will implement to ensure that we rectify the failings that have been identified by the Auditor-General.

1. Criminal charges to be laid against the terminated Chief Financial Officer. The poor quality of the financial statements is in flagrant abuse of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act 56 of 2003). Further reports on financial misconduct will be brought to Council.

2. Termination of the Chief Financial Officer’s contract as of 31 December 2022.

3. Appointment of professional external auditors to support the auditing process.

4. Secondment of additional support from the National Treasury (two former Chief Financial Officers) to support the City.

5. Initiate an audit on the City’s performance in the first half of this financial year and every quarter thereafter.

6. Continued engagements with the Auditor-General to systematically address audit findings to prepare for the next audit.

7. Implementation of disciplinary processes against any official whose performance led to the poor audit outcome.

8. Investigations to be initiated into councillors and officials who may have benefited from supply chain processes.

9. Appointment of a full time City Manager. The administrative leadership vacancy was flagged by the Auditor-General, which we ensured we addressed last year.

10.Appointment process for filling Section 56 top management positions (including the Chief Financial Officer). This recruitment process has been initiated and will be concluded in the first half of this year.

We have already begun the implementation of these steps and will continue to do so over the course of the coming year. Strong audit outcomes are the basis of good governance. We simply cannot compromise on these and we will ensure that we achieve a better outcome in future.

Statement issued by the Tshwane metro, 6 July 2023