Pretoria - The SA National Civic Organisation in Tshwane has berated mayor Randall Williams for making former chief financial officer (CFO) Umar Banda a scapegoat for disastrous financial management flagged by the auditor-general last week.

On Thursday, the auditor-general officially announced to the City of Tshwane council the first qualified audit report with adverse opinion which was incurred by the metro for the 2021/2022 financial period.

The report, which has been labelled as a “mess” and “rubbish” during a council sitting, was leaked to the public early this month.

Part of the report contained unsubstantiated financial statements and unaccounted for City budget.

The quality of the audit report was found wanting by the auditor-general, who said it was not in accordance with the Standards of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice, the requirements of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Division of Revenue Act.

Reacting to the report, the organisation’s regional secretary, Martin Moloto, pointed fingers at Williams for the first adverse audit opinion in the history of the municipality.

“The mayor has not taken responsibility for the state of disaster under his leadership. And to continue blaming the opposition party that has lost control of the council in 2016 is disingenuous of the mayor. The former CFO cannot be the only one taking the fall for all these mishaps that were reported by the auditor-general.”

Moloto said the council’s audit team had not flagged “anomalies as reported by the auditor-general”.

Independent forensic accountant Robert Cameron-Ellis, also chairperson of the City’s audit and performance committee, said this week that the municipal audit team under Banda was advised to rectify the financial statements before taking them to the auditor-general before they were “rubbish”.

Moloto also called out MMC for finance Peter Sutton, saying he should consider leaving the City finances very soon. He accused the incumbent political executive of failing to provide clean and drinkable water to the people of Hammanskraal since 2016 when they took over.

Williams expressed disappointment with the audit findings, saying “the decline in the City’s performance is unacceptable and as the political leadership it is critical that we step up”.

Pretoria News

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