For the past five years the Western Cape government has shown an impressive upward movement towards achieving overall clean administration, but the latest audit outcomes indicate that the province needs to ensure sustainability of its results to achieve the ultimate prize - blanket clean administration.

Auditor-General (AG) Terence Nombembe stated that, for this to happen, leadership of the provincial administration should ensure that management, governance and oversight structures work together closely to monitor the implementation of internal controls on a daily, monthly and quarterly basis. Although the province has made strides in addressing some audit matters highlighted as needing urgent attention in the previous year, not all commitments have been fulfilled.

The major limitation in this regard, he says, has been the lack of detailed and specific target dates for implementation of the remedial plans.

Amongst other commitments in response to the 2010-11 audit recommendations, the provincial leadership pledged:

• to instil the basic principles of monthly reporting and validation of reported information by internal audit units and audit committees
• to enhance the monitoring and oversight capacity of the legislature and its committees
• to ensure development and support of entity-specific action plans to address financial and performance management.

The provincial leadership also undertook to give effect to these and other clearly defined commitments, by ensuring that officials are monitored while fulfilling their responsibilities in line with their job requirements.

Nombembe says none of the commitments made in the previous year have been fully realised.

"It is pleasing to see the improvement in outcomes in those auditees whose leadership has taken accountability for the internal control deficiencies highlighted in the prior year's audits as well as during the quarterly key control interventions with my office."

"In addition to the four departments that achieved a clean audit opinion, special mention must be made of the Department of Health whose findings have decreased significantly because the accounting officer took accountability for the internal control deficiencies highlighted by the auditors," says Nombembe.

The AG reiterated his office's commitment to assist auditees, highlighting that following the launch of government's Operation clean audit in July 2009, he had introduced regular engagements with municipal, provincial and national political leaders to share his office’s assessment of key controls in the areas mentioned above and to identify threats to clean audits.

These engagements helped to create greater awareness on matters that require urgent attention to enable the realisation of clean administration in all spheres of government.