Clean audits are where service delivery begins
For the first time, more than half of the Eastern Cape government’s departments and its entities obtained clean audits. This was revealed last week by auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke when she tabled her annual consolidated general report on national and provincial audit outcomes for the 2021/2022 financial year. A special mention went to the province’s two development zones, the East London Industrial Development Zone and Coega IDZ, which not only maintained their clean audits but surpassed their targets in terms of attracting investors.
The two IDZS, among 14 of the 21 bodies that received clean audits, attracted a combined 19 new investors, with an investment value of more than R1.5bn. Even more pleasing is that national and provincial government audit outcomes have showed a gradual upward trend since 2018/2019.
Maluleke said irregular expenditure in the Eastern Cape decreased from R3bn in the previous year to R1.35bn in 2021/2022 — more then a half.
This is good news indeed for a province where clean audits are rare. In celebrating the report, premier Oscar Mabuyane was quick to point out that the clean audits were “not a fluke” but rather “an outcome of our commitment and dedication to clean governance.”
We salute all those bureaucrats and political heads who turned accountability into a reality in their departments. It demonstrates that where there is a will, clean audits are possible.
While the milestone is cause for celebration, we wonder when this will be replicated in municipalities.
In June we reported that only four local authorities in the province — Joe Gqabi district, and Senqu, Elundini and Winnie Madikizelamandela local municipalities — had clean audits for 2020/21.
The rest are in a sorry state. Chris Hani, Makana, Sundays River Valley and Walter Sisulu municipalities are the worst, with disclaimers because their record-keeping is so lazy they cannot even account for funds allocated to them. Worse still, we doubt if any kind of punitive action has yet been taken against the individuals paid to handle these purses.
This paper has flagged wasteful and fruitless expenditure in certain municipalities countless times, not to mention downright corruption.
We have also highlighted the huge cost, as municipalities are at the coalface of service delivery. The net result of misspending is raw sewage flowing down pothole-riddled streets, taps spewing undrinkable water or no water, or perhaps even no taps; citizens without electricity; criminals making a fortune by plundering public assets with complete impunity because police are crippled by staffing and vehicle problems. As a result service delivery protests become daily more frequent and more frustrated – in fact, more violent.
We hope the premier and his team will pressure Eastern Cape mayors to improve their audit outcomes with an even steeper trajectory than their own.
The two IDZS, among 14 of the 21 bodies that received clean audits, attracted a combined 19 new investors