Auditor-general, Ekurhuleni stand-off

The office of the auditor-general and the city of Ekurhuleni are at odds with one another over accusations of malicious, “politcally motivated” intent over the delay of city’s 2023 audit report.

On Thursday, the office of the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) released a statement “setting the record straight”, saying that it had completed the metro’s audit on time and the accusations made by the municipality were “unfortunate and misleading.”

The AGSA said that the municipality’s management did receive the report; however, it raised a dispute regarding the audit outcome, which “caused the delay in tabling the report.” The AGSA said that it had since introduced a dispute-resolution process.

The report, which speaks about the metro’s annual financial expenditure, performance and audit outcomes, was expected at a council meeting on January 25 – however, the council was left in the dark.

The MMC for finance in the city with a R57.6 billion budget, EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga, is saying that the reason for delay in the release of the report is malicious and politically motivated and that the city’s finances are intact.

Dunga said that “there are elements of politics that are being subscribed by the auditor general, it is unprecedented that at this time, they have still not submitted the auditor-generals report.”

In a statement released by the EFF in Gauteng, which Dunga is the provincial chairperson of, it said that the city submitted its financial statements in August 2023 and statements for its entities the following month. “The AGSA is obligated to submit an audit report… within three months… it has been four months, and there is no acceptable explanation for the delay,” said the EFF.

The statement also said that the delay is politically motivated because “the AGSA appears to be struggling with the fact that the city, the only municipality whose finances are under the [EFF], is on order.”

The AGSA responded by saying that “for many years, we have successfully used [dispute-resolution processes] to settle audit disputes in a fair manner… the national audit office is committed to carry its constitutional mandate impartially, without fear, favour or prejudice to all those we audit.”

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