By REGINALD KANYANE
The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said his government has demonstrated significant improvement in the 2023/24 audit outcomes for provincial departments. Mokgosi said the provincial government is showing a marked progression from the previous year.
He further said this positive trend reflects the government’s ongoing commitment to enhancing financial management, accountability and transparency across all its departments and entities. Mokgosi added that in the latest audit cycle that ended on 31 March 2024, a total of nine out of twelve departments received unqualified audit reports, with two of them receiving clean audits.
“Only one department received a qualified audit outcome with a reduction in audit qualification paragraphs. This signifies that the government’s support efforts must be doubled to ensure that this department also receives an unqualified audit outcome.
“The current year performance reveals that the new techniques that were employed over the previous year which included working closely with Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and officials in the financial management sections are yielding desired results,” he said.
Mokgosi said in the previous year, the province managed to obtain seven unqualified audit outcomes, while five departments were qualified, prompting the provincial government to increase its support on these five departments.
He said the expansion in audit coverage bears testimony to the province’s comprehensive financial oversight and accountability.
“Part of building a capable, ethical and developmental state is to see to it that the government has sound financial management controls. We are particularly encouraged by the increase in clean audits and the overall accuracy of our financial statements.
“These improvements are aligned to our ongoing efforts to build public trust, enhance service delivery and improve the lives of the people of the North West,” said Mokgosi.
He said collaborative efforts of the Provincial Treasury (PT), Provincial Audit Committee (PAC), the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), dedicated members and Chairpersons of Portfolio Committees and other robust governance structures continue to set the province on a positive developmental trajectory.
“We made significant progress in addressing the root causes of the challenges that culminated into Section 100. These key stakeholders have been instrumental in implementing comprehensive reforms, enhancing financial management and strengthening oversight mechanisms,” he said.
The Guardian 