8/5/2023 0 Comments Material findings auditAlso marked as a priority were institutions who had received disclaimed opinions in multiple consecutive years. One central concern was the fact that 18 institutions had regressed from their prior clean audit status, and the lack of stability and consistency that this implied. They were also displeased that law enforcement and other state agencies were responsible for delays in implementing the material irregularities process. They asked about the extent of the Auditor-General’s collaboration with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, the stakeholder ministries, and the office of the Accountant-General, which had been vacant for several years. The Committees undertook to hold follow-up meetings with the Auditor-General once Members had familiarised themselves with the full report, but Members appreciated the briefing. Its central message to the Committees was that there had been improvements in the audit outcomes, but that many further improvements were still required, and ideally at an accelerated pace. The Auditor-General had identified 237 material irregularities in 2020/21, of which only 17 had been resolved – meaning that the Auditor-General was not yet satisfied with the response of accounting officers to the other 220 irregularities. The financial health of the institutions was an ongoing risk – financial health was “of concern” at 119 auditees (58%), and the Auditor-General had identified that intervention was required at 36 auditees (12%).įinally, the Auditor-General reported on the material irregularities process, which it had been expanding each year as it began to implement more of the expanded powers afforded to it by the amendments to the Public Audit Act. Although the Western Cape continued to achieve the highest number of clean audits, outcomes in most provinces were improving, with the exception of Mpumalanga, which required particular attention. Thus key service delivery departments – health, education, public works, and human settlements – continued to lag behind other departments, and few had improved their audit outcomes since 2019/20. However, only two of those clean audits were at the 40 key service delivery departments. Government departments had performed better, with no adverse or disclaimed audits and 47 of all 163 departments (29%) receiving clean audits. The others had received unqualified audits with findings. Seven of the audits were outstanding, but of the eight SOEs audited, only the Development Bank of South Africa had received a clean audit Transnet and the SABC had received qualifications, and the Nuclear Energy Corporation had received a disclaimer. The 425 auditees also included 15 state-owned enterprises (SOEs), whose audit performance the Auditor-General said was regressing and required urgent attention. However, much of that amount was due to a R76.97-billion increase in irregular expenditure at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which had been due to non-compliance with bursary regulations and therefore was not related to supply chain management. Cumulative irregular expenditure amounted to R166.85 billion, incurred across 286 auditees, though that figure was not final. 264 (69%) of auditees had received material findings, most commonly on the quality of their financial statements. There were also 37 audits outstanding (9%), primarily due to late or outstanding financial statements.Ĭompliance was improving, but non-compliance remained high. The Auditor-General reported that, of the 425 audited institutions, 114 (27%) had received clean audits, 187 (44%) had received unqualified audits with findings, 73 (17%) had received qualified audits with findings, two (0.5%) had received adverse audits, and 12 (3%) had received disclaimed audits. The 2020/21 financial year ran from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. In this joint virtual meeting of the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Auditor-General tabled its report on the 2020/21 audit outcomes of the 425 national and provincial institutions which it audited under the Public Finance Management Act.
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