R22,1-million drought relief money now questioned

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GRAAFF-REINET NEWS & VIDEO - The unauthorised spending of R22,1-million, allocated for drought relief, but used for other purposes by the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality, is but one of the reasons why the municipality received a disclaimer audit report for the 2018/2019 financial year.

A disclaimer of opinion is a statement made by the Auditor General when unable to form a concrete opinion.

The announcement was made at a special council meeting on 30 January. Sabelo Mavundla, senior manager in the office of the Auditor General, attended the meeting and discussed some of the concerns.

Although the report was withheld from the media, Advertiser managed to get hold of a copy.

Mavundla told councillors that there are certain issues that the municipality have to deal with. These issues include the municipality's capturing of data, which led to payments processed into the wrong accounts, as well as issues with employee benefits. Mavundla also pointed out that a portion of the R79-million debt that council wrote off in 2018, should not have been written off.

Mavundla said individuals who did not prevent irregular expenditure must be held accountable.

The disclaimer also refers to the incorrect calculation of employee costs when compared to signed employment contracts. Employee-related costs from exchange transactions were understated by a whopping R107,4-million for the 2018/2019 financial year.

The Auditor General pointed out wasteful expenditure of R16,2-million as well as debt impairments of R31,9-million on non service delivery issues.

Mayor Deon de Vos thanked Mavundla for his input. "We will meet and discuss the report and the way forward," he said.

Watch a video below: