Clean audits for Western Cape Government Departments

16 November 2016

The Western Cape Government has again achieved 100% unqualified audits, for all provincial departments, for the second year running. These outcomes affirm the province’s position as a leader in clean governance, and service delivery.

A total of 11 clean audits were achieved, with the Western Cape Department of Health becoming the only department in its sector nationally, to receive an unqualified audit.

AG Kimi Makwetu released the 2015/16 Audit Outcomes at a press conference earlier today.

Referring to the management in the province, Mr Makwetu said “the drivers of key controls for the year indicate … stability in leadership roles and established policies, procedures and processes”.

Observing some of the best practices, Mr Makwetu said the provincial government has implemented “good human resource management” which “ensured stability at senior management level, the availability of adequately and sufficiently skilled resources (specifically within finance units), and the regular monitoring of the performance of officials”.

The Auditor-General also noted that the province’s executive leadership had met commitments made in the previous year relating to “monitoring and implementation of the corporate governance and review outlook (CGRO) process”.

These were some of the key factors identified in contributing to the 2015/16 Audit Outcomes.

Premier Helen Zille noted the audit outcomes saying clean audits were not only part of good governance, but “part of our responsibility in building a capable state that is accountable and upholds the rule of the law in South Africa”.

“While they are not the only factor to consider, audit outcomes assist us to determine if our leadership and financial accounting systems are effective,” said Premier Zille.

“I would like to commend the Departments and their Ministries for their efforts in managing public money responsibly, and delivering essential quality services. Our priority must always be to use public funds in the public benefit while removing as much red tape as possible”.

Premier Zille added: “It is always encouraging when we receive good audit outcomes, especially in big budget departments such as Health. We are inspired by these results, and will continue to improve on all indicators”.

Issued by Michael Mpofu, Spokesperson for Premier Helen Zille, 16 November 2016