In the second consecutive year Emalahleni Local Municipality received an improved unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General for 2015/16 financial year. The outcomes means the local authority did not regress instead maintained the status quo with a noticeable improvement in addressing certain areas that were identified by the Auditor-General. The financial statements were free from any material misstatements.

The Auditor-General evaluated the usefulness of the reported performance information to determine whether it was presented in accordance with National Treasury’s annual reporting principles and that it is consistent with the planned objectives.

As the infrastructure development and service delivery objective was tested and no material findings were raised on the usefulness of the reported performance information for this objective.

On the internal controls in particular on financial and performance management the AG find that the maintenance of supporting information was deficient for performance reporting due to the municipality not having standard operating procedures which would have assisted in identifying errors timeously to avoid material findings being raised.

Mayor Nomveliso Nyukwana speaking on the special council meeting where the audit report for 2015/16 was tabled said, “We are on the right track to achieve a clean audit. This is as a result of a collective effort by everyone. The achievement we observe today is owned by the former leadership as the period under review is when they were in office. As the current leadership we must set our own targets towards achieving a clean audit”.

“We were commended by the Auditor-General on how we spend money in particular on service delivery programmes we implement in house. We thank everyone who played a role on this achievement”, she said.

Councillor Nolitha Lali Chief Whip said, “Indeed we see footprints not only on the reports but tangible services on the ground where people are residing. People are looking for more, we are doing our level best to change their lives. Traditional leaders can bear testimony that this is not our democracy but a democracy where our people benefit”.

“We are thankful to the management and the entire workforce who tirelessly worked even when the council was on recess in preparation for the elections” said Lali.