Accolades from the Auditor General, Kimi Makwetu, have lifted the spirits within the corridors of an Eastern Free State based district municipality of Thabo Mofutsanyana.
In his latest report on the local government audit outcomes for 2018 – 2019 period, Makwetu praised Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality for setting the right tone at the top. This is after the municipality received an unqualified audit opinion.
He attributed the attainment to the municipality’s municipal manager, Takatso Lebenya, whom she acknowledged as a good example in setting the right tone to institutionalise preventative controls.
“The municipal manager monitored the audit action plans and enforced the principle of ensuring that the supporting evidence was obtained and attached prior to payment being made.
“The discipline for a culture of clean administration was demonstrated through the involvement of the municipal manager and senior managers during the audit, which resulted in their audit outcome improving from qualified to unqualified with findings,” said the Auditor General.
He explained that some of the good practices identified at the municipality, which supported the sustainability of the internal control environment, include stability in key leadership positions, including the position of the mayor and the municipal manager, as well as a finance team that was adequately capacitated and understood their roles and responsibilities.
“We are very much encouraged and excited about the accolades received from the Auditor General on our work as Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality. We are determined to work harder and make Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality the best municipality in the country.
“We are very much grateful to all who played their role in ensuring that we are doing our best. I am proud to be part of Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality,” said Executive Mayor Malefu Vilakazi.
Vilakazi was the first to congratulate Lebenya, her management team and the staff for producing unqualified audit report was the district municipality’s Executive Mayor, Malefu Vilakazi, during the State of the District Address and Budget Speech held on 29 May 2020.
“We thus extend our warm-hearted words of gratitude to the Municipal Manager, Management, Staff and most particularly our finance department for their sterling performance in ensuring our books are in order, although we have to admit that there are matters raised the Auditor-General that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“We are also appreciative of the oversight role played the Council, Municipal Public Accounts Committee, Audit and Performance Committee, Risk Management Committee, as well as Internal Audit and Risk Management Units,” said the Executive Mayor as she delivered the State of the District Address.
Her sentiments were echoed by the Auditor General as he also praised Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality for the improved performance.
With its headquarters in Qwaqwa, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality consists of six local municipality, namely Maluti-a-Phofung, Dihlabeng, Phumelela, Mantsopa, Nketoana and Setsoto.
The district municipality is named after political activist and stalwart, Edwin Thabo Mofutsanyana, who was born in 1899 in Witsieshoek (now known as Qwaqwa). He served both in the African National Congress (ANC) and the Communist Party of South Africa. He was also the editor of the Communist Party of South Africa’s newspaper called Inkululeko during the 1940s.
Mofutsanyana also played an instrumental role in the underground work of fermenting battles against apartheid regime. He went into exile in Lesotho in 1959. In 1992, he returned to Qwaqwa, where he died in 1995 shortly after our country attained democracy.
At the helm of this district municipality are women; namely Councillor Malefu Vilakazi – the Executive Mayor, Councillor Seipati Mbiwe – the Council Whip, Me. Takatso Lebenya – the Municipal Manager and Me. Noloyiso Gqoli – the Chief Financial Officer.
