eThekwini Municipality - DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT TABLED AND AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT2016-01-29 The draft annual report for eThekwini Municipality for the financial year 2014/15 was tabled at the first Full Council meeting for the year, held today 28 January 2016 at City Hall. The annual report is published yearly to provide all interested parties information on the City’s activities and financial state.
The report, which goes out for public comment until 1 March 2016, highlights progress made by the Municipality in terms of service delivery. The report, a requirement of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) 56 of 2003 also showcases the City’s performance over the past financial year including its accomplishments and challenges. Among the highlights listed in the Annual Report include the City building 5 516 new houses and 144 family units. Potable water is delivered to 92 percent of residents with only 15.83 percent of informal housing falling below the minimum requirements of our water service delivery levels. This is due to the containerised ablution blocks that have supplied life giving water to informal settlements. The City also supplies electricity to 730 000 customers and a weekly refuse removal service is provided to 945 910 households. The public is encouraged to comment on the draft report. Comments received during this process will be considered in the drafting of the new Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and budget in coming years. The Annual Report is accessible on the Municipal website: www.durban.gov.za at City Hall; Municipal libraries and all Sizakala Centres. The comment period closes on 1 March 2016. For more information and enquiries contact: Gonie Dorasamy on: 031 322 7205, Fax: 031 311 420 or email: gonie.dorasamy@durban.gov.za. ETHEKWINI CELEBRATES RECEIVING A CLEAN AUDIT FROM AUDITOR GENERAL The Auditor General of South Africa’s office presented the Audit Report for the 2014/15 financial year at Full Council in which eThekwini Municipality received a clean audit for good governance and financial management. This is the first time in the Municipality’s history that a clean audit has been achieved. The City’s two Municipal entities, namely uShaka Marine World and the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, also achieved a clean audit for the same period. The City is committed to maintaining and sustaining the clean audit going forward by reducing irregular expenditure, the use of Supply Chain Management Regulation 36 as well as the use section 116 (3) of the Municipal Finance Management Act. Furthermore the City intends to involve internal audit in the review and approval of both regulation 36 and 116 (3) to ensure the validity of the request and not as a result of poor planning. During his presentation to Full Council on the audit report, Barry Wheeler from the Auditor General’s office, applauded the efforts of the City leadership including eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo on the hard work it took to reach this milestone. He said his office had a Constitutional mandate to strengthen the country’s democracy by enabling oversight, accountability and governance in the public sector through auditing. Wheeler said his office audited three aspects namely:
Wheeler said it was good to see eThekwini reach this point of achieving a clean audit but cautioned City officials to continue the hard work by targeting areas of concern that were raised in the information supplied to his office. These concerns did not have an impact on the audit outcome. Among the issues raised were the legal claims lodged against the Municipality, material losses and impairments and material underspending of conditional grant and capital budget. Wheeler thanked City officials for their cooperation by working closely with his team. “I also have to thank Mayor Nxumalo for making the time during the year to meet with me and my team. Most of the commitments made by the Mayor during 2012 to ensure good governance have been achieved. Thank you for your leadership, without it we would not be here today,†Wheeler added. Mayor Nxumalo said all officials had to pat themselves on the back for a job well done. “This achievement indicates that City and political leaders are practising good governance and are using the public’s money wisely. We can attribute achieving this clean audit to the recruitment of the head of internal audit to strengthen internal controls and the effective work done by the City’s Integrity and Investigations Unit to fight against crime and corruption,†Nxumalo said. He said it was important to focus on maintaining this achievement going forward. “Irregular expenditure must be further curbed and brought down to zero. We must remain strongly committed to the principles of honesty, credibility and anti-fraud and corruption practices,†Nxumalo added. Deputy Mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala said it has taken hard work to reach this achievement. “This didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of hard work from dedicated officials as eThekwini is one of the largest municipalities in the country. We can proudly pat ourselves on the back as the City is financially sound,†she said. ENDS Issued by eThekwini Municipality’s Communications Head, Tozi Mthethwa. For more information members of the media can contact Gugu Sisilana on 031 311 4855 or email: gugu.mbonambi@durban.gov.za or Princess Nkabane on 031 311 4818 or princess.nkabane@durban.gov.za |
eThekwini Municipality - DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT TABLED AND AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
Copyright © 2024 KwaZulu-Natal Top Business
