Ndlambe celebrates unqualified audit
Mayor lists outcomes achieved; issues raised
Ndlambe needs to balance its emphasis on good audit outcomes with practical service delivery. Mayor Khululwa Ncamiso said this at a full council meeting on Friday December 8 after the speaker’s announcement that the municipality had achieved its second successive unqualified audit opinion.
However, an audit opinion wasn’t the main concern of ordinary people, Ncamiso said.
“Our main goal is to achieve [impressive] service delivery. It doesn’t help to get a clean audit if residents are not receiving services,” Ncamiso said.
There was a holiday mood at the Ndlambe council’s last meeting of the year. The venue, Cannon Rocks Beach Suites, definitely contributed.
Providing some material substance for the celebrations was the municipality’s second successive unqualified audit opinion, along with other outcomes that Ncamiso listed as having been achieved by the municipality this year.
These included the imminent completion of a water treatment plant at Bathurst; the handing over of two water infrastructure contracts to Ndlambe by Amatola Water; the rectification of 248 RDP houses in Alexandria; and the paving of several township roads.
Ncamiso condemned corruption that had been uncovered at the municipality ’ s traffic department, and the misuse of municipal vehicles.
She also strongly hit back at media coverage of the municipality’s R700,000 purse for the Ecawa Music Festival to take place on December 24.
“It is unfortunate this [story] was published out of context.
“If we claim we are a destination of choice, there should be practical evidence of this,” Ncamiso said.
She slammed the media for creating “bad publicity”.
She was also scathing about Amatola Water’s handling of the Albany reverse osmosis plant, saying the water authority should hand over the plan “instantly and unconditionally” to Ndlambe.
“We want it to be ours so we can do whatever it takes to make it work properly.”
DA caucus spokesperson Skura Venene supported her call for extended hours for lifeguards at Ndlambe’s beaches.
Municipal manager Rolly Dumezweni said while the municipality would look into extending the lifeguard services at Blue Flag and designated swimming beaches, there were many variables determining when lifeguards arrived and left.
Ward 5 councillor Mzwandile Sweli called for at least 50 locals per ward to be employed during the festive season to ensure proper service delivery and the safety of visitors and locals.
Dumezweni said the available budget precluded hiring that many people; however, the municipality would consider increasing the number of casuals employed during the festive season.
Venene congratulated the municipality for its second successive unqualified audit opinion.
However, he noted that the auditor general had flagged the lack of a compliance monitoring tool, and that Ndlambe Municipality was thus materially non-compliant.
An unqualified audit is the second of five possible audit opinions, ranging from clean to disclaimer.
According to the AG, (https://bit.ly/TOTT_AGopinions) a financially unqualified audit opinion means the financial statements contain no material misstatements.
“Unless we express a clean audit outcome, findings have been raised on either reporting on predetermined objectives or non-compliance with legislation, or both these aspects,” the website states.
Former long-serving Sarah Baartman District Municipality municipal manager (20022022) Ted Pillay has been appointed as the chairperson of
Ndlambe ’ s Audit and Performance Committee. He was introduced to the council at its December 8 meeting, along with senior provincial treasury official Bulelwa Nqadolo. The third member, Prof W Plaatjies, was absent.
Of immediate importance to ratepayers in Ndlambe is council’s decision to revert to the normal water tariff from December 1. The Sarah Baartman District was declared a drought affected area by the minister of water and sanitation.
Ndlambe Municipality, as a water services provider, implemented a drought water tariff from February 2020.
“The drought declaration has since expired and necessitates the municipality to revert to the normal water tariff,” the agenda report notes.
While the declaration had expired, the reality of drought conditions hadn’t, the report noted. The municipality was still buying borehole water from various owners to distribute to consumers until three months ago, when the Sarel Hayward reservoir finally filled.
A drinking water quality report focusing on microbiological parameters dated November 27 indicated 100% SANS compliance with permitted levels of e.coli in samples taken at Alexandria, Bathurst, Bushmans, Cannon Rocks/Boknes, Kenton-on-Sea, and Kleinemonde/ Seafield.
Within Ndlambe, 21 of 22 samples taken met the e.coli standard; in Port Alfred, eight of nine samples complied.