Qualified audit opinion for Vhembe

After many years of struggling, Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) has finally received a qualified audit opinion for the 2018/19 financial year in the annual report of the Auditor General (AG).

According to newly appointed municipal manager Ms Sylvia Ndou, this is a big achievement because the municipality has been receiving a disclaimer in the AG’s report since the financial year 2012/2013.

Ndou said they had managed to secure a qualified audit opinion because of the cooperation they had had between different departments and employees, especially those from the finance and procurement sections.

“This is a big achievement for us.  However, we are not surprised because when the executive mayor, Cllr Dowelani Nenguda, came in, we sat down and made a commitment that we must improve our finances and make sure that we get a better audit opinion from the Auditor General.

“From there, we came with plans that included establishing an Audit Steering Committee that met every week, where a report about the progress made was given. In that committee, the executive mayor was there, together with the provincial treasury, which did oversight work alongside CoGHSTA, who also formed part of the Audit Steering Committee,” said Ndou.

Ndou also revealed that the municipality was working towards attaining an unqualified audit opinion. “After receiving a qualified audit opinion, we are now working very hard to make sure that we get an unqualified audit opinion. From there, we will go for a clean audit opinion.

“Because of the cooperation between senior officials and all employees, we are confident that we will achieve our goals.  There is a lot of improvements in the way we are spending our money and keeping our records.  For this we thank the good leadership from Cllr Nenguda, who made it clear when he came in and made us believe that we can do it.

“Through his leadership, he also brought back the confidence of every employee and made us believe that we can do it, and indeed we made it. From here we are confident that there is nothing that is going to stop us from achieving more,” said Ndou.

Meanwhile, Nenguda said he was also happy about the achievement.

He praised all the workers under the leadership of Ndou, who had been acting in the position of municipal manager until she was appointed permanently late last year. Nenguda also said he was confident that the municipality was going to receive an unqualified audit opinion and later, a clean audit opinion.

“Remember, we are a district municipality and must lead by example and become the best, like our local municipality, Thulamela, who has been receiving an unqualified audit opinion in the past six years,” said Nenguda.

Date:06 March 2020

By: Ndivhuwo Musetha

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