Latest news with #AuditorGeneral
Mail & Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Auditor-general exposes municipal meltdown
Auditor general Tsakani Maluleke This is despite an uptick in the number of clean audit reports for the 2023-24 financial year. Maluleke painted a dire picture of the widespread poor quality of financial reporting and mismanagement in a briefing to parliament's cooperative governance portfolio committee on local government audit outcomes for the financial year. 'The good news is that we are back to 41 clean audits [out of 275 municipalities], which is where we started back in 2021. So we're no more at the 34 that I talked about last year. However, that makes up 15% of the municipalities across the country,' she said. 'It's great that we are reversing this trend around disclaimers of audit opinion. However, the state of financial and performance management disciplines in local government still leaves much to be desired, and so the story, in many ways, is similar to what I would have shared before. I worry … that I will sound like a stuck record.' Her office's assessment underscored a profound crisis in municipal governance that extends far beyond mere administrative inefficiency. She said 14 municipalities received Ninety-nine municipalities had unqualified opinions and 41 municipalities achieved clean audits. Maluleke said the metropolitan landscape was particularly alarming. 'The eight metros across the country look after half of the expenditure budget for local government. They look after service delivery that affects 46% of households across the country. Their budgets are quite significant,' she said. 'They sit in the centres of economic activity, and so, given the scale of their operations, the complexity thereof, but also the resources that they manage and even their location, they should have no difficulty attracting the skills that they need to run their environment. 'Unfortunately, out of the eight, we've got only one clean audit, which is the City of Cape Town. It was the only clean audit last year as well.' Maluleke's office was also concerned about the quality of financial statements of the big metros and municipalities, noting that when the audit started only 63 out of 275 municipalities provided quality financial statements. 'By the time we finished, we managed to get 140 credible financial statements through corrections during the audit process,' she said. 'The City of Joburg didn't give us quality financial statements when we began our audit. Now that's a big city, the biggest in the country, the biggest on the continent. There should be no difficulty in ensuring that you've got the skills and the capability to do what you're supposed to do, just on compiling financial statements.' The audit exposed shocking institutional decay across infrastructure projects. 'We selected projects mostly in the metros and in those that have disclaimers of audit opinion. We found that the majority of projects had problems — 77% of the projects we visited had problems. Either they were delayed, there was poor quality work and then we also identified matters around the inadequate maintenance of infrastructure,' she said. 'The reason this exists, in our view, is that even if performance agreements are done as a tick-box exercise, they are not monitored. Contractors are appointed poorly through a procurement process that is not in compliance with the law and one that does not lead to the best decision. So the contractor that's appointed is one that's not equal to the task, then they are not managed — contract management capability is not there. 'The municipality doesn't have employees within it that have a set of standard operating procedures, a set of disciplines and even a set of skills to monitor the performance of these contractors, and we're seeing even once they've seen problems with the performance of the contractor, they don't hold them accountable. 'Other than the municipalities that have got clean audits, you've got the majority of municipalities with material compliance findings, mostly in the area of procurement and contract management. In a nutshell, it tells us that we do not yet have a culture, a state of control, procedures and even accounting mechanisms. 'Metros are not any better. And given their significant budgets, one would have thought that this area of procurement would enjoy tremendous attention by the people that hold the purse.' Buffalo City's engineering crisis epitomised municipal dysfunction, the auditor general said, telling MPs: 'They have had a vacancy for district engineer responsible for electricity for 80 months — that's six years and eight months.' An identical vacancy for sanitation engineering had remained unfilled for 24 months. Maluleke said the financial mismanagement is systemic and deeply entrenched. 'This year 219 municipalities spent together R1.47 billion on consultants purely for the purpose of helping them compile financial statements. Last year we reported R1.37 billion so the number is not really changing. 'This is when there are CFOs [chief financial officers] in place and there are finance functions that are populated with people that have been appointed. We also note that municipalities that get disclaimers of opinion also still spend on consultants on average R6 million. 'Municipalities with adverse findings also spend on consultants. The ones with qualified audits also spend on consultants. It tells us then that the key question is: why is it that even when there's consultants being appointed, we still get bad quality submissions?' She said her office had been asking this question for the past 10 years. 'The answer is that in most instances, the work of the consultant is not being reviewed. They say, well, there's 2% [of cases] where the consultants didn't deliver. But much of the problem is either consultants are appointed late, the underlying documents are not available or that their work is not being managed properly by the people that appointed them,' she said. 'What it tells you is that you've got CFOs and finance staff in place. They appoint consultants every year, and then once the consultant is there, they basically leave their desks. And so the consultant must engage with the auditors, which, in our view, tells a story about the culture and discipline more than even skills.' 'There is an element where the people under the CFO, there are some who are appointed and don't have the skill to do the basics. However, much of the problem, we believe in local government, especially in this area of overusing consultants, relates to discipline.' Municipal debt continues to spiral out of control as many municipalities approve unfunded budgets. 'We see unauthorised expenditure, meaning that where you've got expenditure levels approved, people are spending beyond that … And of course, that then compromises the financial health of those municipalities. Many ended up with a deficit situation, and many have got major creditors that they don't pay, such as She said suppliers and creditors to municipalities were waiting 286 days on average to receive money due to them, because cash flow had become very tight across many municipalities. Many of the suppliers then charged interest and penalties, much of which ended up as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The treasury's Eskom debt relief programme aimed at helping municipalities enter into a settlement arrangement with the power utility had failed. 'It's not working — 84% of the municipalities that participate in that programme are not complying with the conditions that they subscribed to. Again, in many instances, that's a discipline issue,' Maluleke told members of parliament. The auditor general's report noted that cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MECs, the minister and provincial legislatures were not doing their jobs in overseeing municipalities. 'The Municipal Systems Act provides that the MEC of Cogta must compile a report that analyses the performance of each municipality and that report must include remedial action that the MEC or municipality is undertaking and provide a report to provincial legislature every year on how municipality is responding,' Maluleke said. 'We have found those reports are either not done or if they are done they are done late; they are also either not tabled in the legislature and if tabled they are not dealt with in the legislature. 'We believe wholeheartedly that if MEC did their part they would not be lurching from crisis to crisis and if the legislature played their part they wouldn't be waiting for the AG to say there is a disclaimer here, they would be monitoring these movements as a matter of course.' She said the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs's compilation report was often not done or done late. 'We have to get every single player in the ecosystem of accountability doing their part otherwise we will not arrest the decline of local government,' Maluleke said.
CBC
5 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Nunavut Housing Corp. not providing residents with fair access to public housing: Audit
Social Sharing The Nunavut Housing Corporation has not provided Nunavut residents with equitable access to suitable public housing, according to an audit from the Auditor General of Canada released Monday. The housing corporation is responsible for public housing in all of Nunavut's communities. It also funds and oversees local housing organizations, which manage over 6,000 public housing units. More than 60 per cent of Nunavummiut rely on public housing, 45 per cent of which is overcrowded, according to Nunavut Housing Corporation data included in the auditor's report. The audit covered a timeline from April 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024. The audit found the housing corporation did not know whether publicly funded units were being allocated to applicants who needed them the most. Nunavut's local housing organizations use a points-based system to allocate housing — meaning the applicants with the greatest need get more points and receive priority. Points are supposed to be allocated based on financial need, how many bedrooms a family needs, and how bad the conditions are where the applicant is currently living. But the auditors found that these guidelines were not being followed in Nunavut communities. "We reviewed each point-rating system and found that each one was inconsistent with the NHC's guidance," the report said. In one Nunavut region, housing authorities didn't award any points for affordability in any of their communities, meaning applicants there who were living in unaffordable housing didn't get any priority on public housing waitlists. The auditors also found the housing corporation's oversight of its housing waitlists to be poor, and that the organization did not regularly monitor the allocation of its units. "Therefore, the NHC could not demonstrate that the public housing units were given in an equitable manner and to those who needed them most," the report said. Lapsed inspections, 4.5-year waitlists The audit also found that NHC did not properly monitor whether local housing organizations were doing regular inspections to assess the living conditions in public units. Inspections should take place every two years according to NHC, but the audit found most inspections dated back to 2018 — making them six years old. The condition of the unit also affects its rental price. "This means that for the majority of units in our sample, tenants may have been paying more or less rent than they should have had the unit condition rating been updated," the report said. They also said NHC could not provide evidence to show that it reviewed the public waitlists on a monthly or quarterly basis. "We found that the NHC did not have plans on how to address the accessibility needs of Nunavummiut living in public housing." The housing corporation also did not have up-to-date information about mould levels for most of its public housing units, the auditors found. The audit also found the average amount of time for an applicant to be on a public housing waitlist was 4.5 years. 18 units finished since Nunavut 3,000 launch In 2022, the Nunavut government launched its Nunavut 3,000 strategy to address the territory's longstanding housing crisis. It aims to build 3,000 homes by 2030. For its part, NHC is responsible for building about 1,400 of those homes. The audit said NHC faces challenges in meeting thattarget, including securing land and finding qualified personnel. It also found the government has not clearly communicated its progress on its goal to build 3,000 homes. It counted 221 units as part of its number of completed units, but those units had been built before Nunavut 3,000's launch. "We found that the NHC did not clearly communicate in the strategy that it would be counting units that started prior to the strategy's launch." Since Nunavut 3,000 launched in October 2022, 18 public housing units had been completed as of December 2024. It also found the targets for Nunavut 3,000 each year were based on the number of new housing units started, not completed. That meant the targets didn't accurately reflect how many units would be ready in a given year. While NHC said it had completed its target for 2023-2024 of 150 units, only 18 of those units were ready to be lived in. Canada's auditor general also audited NHC in 2008, when it found the housing corporation did not adequately monitor the maintenance of public housing units. The report said it is "concerning" that the same recommendation was made 15 years ago and hasn't been followed through. The audit makes 10 recommendations to NHC, all of which were accepted. In a press release Monday afternoon, NHC outlined the steps it would take to implement the recommendations. "The Auditor General's findings and recommendations validate our plans to improve how NHC provides equitable access to suitable public housing for families and individuals in Nunavut," NHC minister Lorne Kusugak said in the release. NHC said it also plans to include its response to the recommendations in an official action plan to be released in the fall.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Dead insect larva found in government funded school lunch
File image. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Food safety officials are investigating the discovery of a dead larva found in a government funded school lunch in Auckland. Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle says it was found in a meal at Kelston Boys' High School on 12 May. He said the larva has been sent away for testing and the results were expected back next week. The tests should confirm what type of insect it is and help determine how it might have got into the food. He said although officials were looking into the complaint, at this stage there was no evidence there was a wider problem with the School Lunch Collective which provides the meals. The Collective has been approached for comment. The lunch scheme was plagued by problems in term one, with criticism of late, inedible, repetitive or nutritionally lacking lunches, and even a case of a lunch containing melted plastic. The Auditor-General's office has announced plans for an inquiry into the programme .
CBC
24-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
N.W.T. making good progress on conservation goals, auditor general finds
Canada's auditor general says the Northwest Territories government is "on track" to meet its conservation goals. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada presented its report on conservation areas in the Northwest Territories to MLAs and the public on Friday. It covers the territory's work on this issue from 2016 to 2024. The report looked at the government's progress in addressing three of the territory's conservation priorities: ensuring long-term funding for conservation areas, strengthening management of protected areas, and establishing new protected and conservation areas. The auditor general found the territory had made "timely progress" on achieving the goal of ensuring sustainable conservation funding — largely because of the "N.W.T.:Our Land for the Future" conservation agreement signed last year. The agreement provides $375 million to Indigenous governments in N.W.T. for conservation initiatives, with funding coming from the federal government and private donors. "This crucial step underscores the government's commitment to implementing an Indigenous-led approach to protected and conserved areas. It will support Indigenous peoples' stewardship of their lands while also helping the territory expand its conservation network," auditor Jerry DeMarco told reporters on Friday afternoon. The auditor general's report said the territory is also on track to meet its other two conservation goals, although there are issues with the management of Territorial Protected Areas that need to be addressed, including a need for more monitoring to determine how co-management partnerships are working. Recommendations The auditors also flagged that many of the territory's hiring decisions related to the management of protected areas were made without input from Indigenous partners, and they recommended that the territorial government change this. The report also said that the territorial government's continued reliance on short-term federal funding to manage protected areas was a concern, as it lead to many jobs being filled through short-term contracts, resulting in high turnover. "We heard from Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations that the increased turnover placed a burden on their staff to share their Indigenous knowledge each time a new employee from the government joined the operational team of the territorial protected areas," the report says. The report also urges the territorial government to work with the Tłı̨chǫ Government and Dehcho First Nations to develop a plan and timeline by the end of 2025 for five proposed protected areas where negotiations are currently stalled.
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Alberta Auditor General will participate in lawsuit against AHS
Alberta Auditor General Doug Wylie speaks during a press conference in Edmonton, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
