Durban - Provincial DA leader Francois Rodgers has described the audit outcome of uMngeni Municipality as the fulfilment of the promise the party made to its constituency.
“We had promised residents of uMngeni a transparent government that prioritises service delivery. This audit outcome is evident of the work we have done to showcase the reliable governance of the DA,” said Rodgers.
The DA leader said, as a party governing the municipality, they were fixing street lights, repairing potholes, creating job opportunities instead of lining our own pockets with your hard-earned money.
He stressed that it was for the first time in three years that uMngeni Local Municipality had recorded improved audit outcomes.
“For the 2021/2022 closing financial year, the uMngeni Municipality has improved and achieved an Unqualified Audit opinion with findings,” the municipality said in a statement.
For the last three years, the municipality has received a Qualified Audit opinion.
A Qualified Audit Opinion means that the financial statements contain material misstatements in specific amounts, or there is insufficient evidence to conclude that specific amounts included in the financial statements are not materially misstated.
The municipality said the Unqualified Audit opinion with finding “means that there was a big improvement in the handling of the municipal finances including oversight, spending, record keeping and compliance with regulations.
“The findings of the AG will be an important indication of where the municipality can improve and ultimately achieve an Unqualified Audit without findings (clean audit),” said the statement.
The municipality said the outcomes were a result of hard work, noting that in just seven months of the new administration, a number of interventions have been put in place to ensure that we respond to the mistakes of the previous years.
It said under the guidance of the Mayor Chris Pappas and the Municipal Manager, the municipality is making big strides to improve the financial situation of the municipality.
It congratulated the staff in the finance department who have worked tirelessly to achieve the goals of the new leadership of the uMngeni Municipality.
“We will continue to strive for better and better management of public funds and value for money spending. Service delivery must be our core competency as a local government. We thank the private sector partners, the public, NPOs and other government stakeholders for assisting to build an uMngeni where we make progress together,’ the municipality concluded in a statement.