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GOVERNANCE

Local municipalities in the spotlight

“The performance of local municipalities in South Africa is the indicator of the country’s heartbeat. Local municipalities are the closest institution to citizens; they reflect in great measure levels of citizen engagement – as recipients but also as contributors. In addition, local government shows, like no other indicator, the health of public institutions at the Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

PFMA audit results: overall deterioration again

Our new two-part miniseries focuses on the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) audit outcomes for 2017/2018, tabled yesterday in Parliament by Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu, as well as the Public Audit Act (PAA) amendment bill that was signed into law a few days ago. On Tuesday 20 November, the Government Gazette carried the announcement that President Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Clamping down on wayward auditors

Auditors and auditing firms have been in the news in recent months. We read about the likes of VBS Mutual Bank, Steinhoff and others, where auditors seemingly turned a blind eye to irregularities. Firms such as KPMG, which has been implicated in scandals involving the Gupta-owned Linkway Trading as well as the South African Revenue Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

AGSA: Gauteng achieves 100% unqualified audits, but can do better

By Kwazi Dlamini The Auditor-General’s office recently released its yearly audit results of local government in Gauteng. Results were presented by Dumisani Cebekhulu, the business executive responsible for Gauteng province at the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).  Cebekhulu revealed that all municipalities sustained their outcomes from the previous year which meant that Gauteng was the Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Lack of accountability shows in MFMA audit results

Released in Parliament last week by auditor-general (AG) Kimi Makwetu, the 2016-2017 local government audit results present a bleak picture. The AG attributes the overall deterioration in local municipality audit results and lack of compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) to advice and warnings that were largely not heeded. Part one of our Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

SOE shake-up on the cards – SA waits for action

Between the pronouncement made on planned anti-corruption efforts during his maiden state of the nation address (Sona) on 16 February this year, and his Cabinet announcement of this past Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to be serious about his administration’s planned restoration of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).  It remains to be seen, however, if the interventions Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

MFMA: improvements, but municipalities still have work

The auditor-general’s (AG) latest report on the financial performance of municipalities, released last week, shows a marginal improvement for 2015/16, but overall the local government had failed to maintain the promising five-year momentum – gained in the years 2010/11 to 2014/15 – that he reported on last year. At a briefing on 21 June, AG Read more >