DA congratulates Western Cape Government on outstanding audit outcomes

Issued by Bonginkosi Madikizela – DA Western Cape Provincial leader

01 Apr 2021 in News

The DA congratulates the Western Cape Provincial Government for yet again producing exemplary audit outcomes for the 2019/2020 financial year.

Yesterday, the Auditor-General (AG) announced that in the Western Cape, 70% of departments and entities received clean audits. These results shows that this DA-governed province is the best run in South Africa and is indicative of the DA’s commitment to clean governance, service delivery and creating a capable state.

While the DA-run Western Cape has excelled in its audit outcomes, ANC-governed provinces have proven themselves incapable of running a clean and accountable government.

The fact that the next best province behind the Western Cape is Gauteng at a meagre 30% in clean audits proves that the DA is miles ahead of the ANC who consistently shows its commitment to non-compliance, lack of accountability, corruption and irregular tender processes.

Under the leadership of Premier Alan Winde, the Western Cape has demonstrated itself to be a province that has zero tolerance for corruption, and a 100% commitment to delivering services to residents through a clean and capable government.

Getting government spending right is paramount, especially at a time when many South African families are still reeling due to the effects of the extended lockdown, which affected their lives and livelihood.

The DA brand of good governance has proven that it is committed to deliver service to the people who entrusted it to govern. And we look forward to sharing this commitment to South Africans across the country following the upcoming Local Government Elections.

All provinces can learn from the Western Cape, which scored clean audits in 70% of its auditees.

Among the strengths demonstrated by the province, Maluleke highlighted, was submitting annual financial statements on time. This culture by the DA-led province was a reflection of institutionalised controls in the financial statements preparation process.

“The financial health of the province showed that the principles of budget and expenditure management were sound and able to prevent any unauthorised expenditure and limit fruitless and wasteful expenditure — putting auditees in a position to surrender surplus voted back to the provincial revenue fund,” Maluleke reported.

Key highlights from the Auditor General’s PFMA 2018-19 Consolidated General Report:

79% of Western Cape departments received clean audits compared to the next best province, Gauteng, with 30% clean audits and the worst performing, the Free State, with 0% clean audits.
The Department of Health received a clean audit for the first time. This is also the first time that any Department of Health has received a clean audit in South Africa.
Of the R1.37bn unauthorised expenditure reported on for the country, no unauthorised expenditure emanated from the Western Cape.
The Western Cape incurred only R154,000 worth of fruitless and wasteful expenditure, compared to R898,000 in the Northern Cape and the worst performing, the Free State, with R144m.
The Western Cape incurred only R33m worth of irregular expenditure, compared to R609m in the Northern Cape and the worst performing, Kwa-Zulu Natal, with R12.4bn.
In a continued effort to ensure good fiscal management, the Western Cape Government also significantly reduced irregular expenditure in provincial departments from R48.9m to R21.3m. The province also reduced fruitless and wasteful expenditure from R156,000 to R105,000. These audit outcomes reflect a continued effort to not only prioritise good governance, but also to be constantly seeking to improve in the way we manage provincial finances.