During the high-level meeting with Premier Sisi Ntombela and her team of MECs, including Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Treasury, Transport, Health and Public Works, Auditor General(AG) Tsakani Maluleke announced that Departments and Entities - including the Provincial Treasury, Cogta, the Fleet Management and the Housing Fund - all received clean audits whilst Social Development and the Free State Gambling, Tourism and Liquor Authority both improved their audit outcomes from qualified to unqualified with findings.

During a media briefing held by Premier Ntombela, she vowed to turn the tide across all departments, with departments expected to send their annual financial statements to the Treasury MEC, Gadija Brown, as prescribed by the legislative framework.

“Free State provincial departments and our entities will submit our annual financial statement to the Provincial Treasury by the legislative deadline of 1 May of 2023. All Free State provincial departments and entities will table their annual reports to the Legislature in the legislative time frames. All departments that received qualified audit opinions should at least improve to unqualified with findings audit opinions. The Provincial Legislature must improve their audit outcome to an unqualified with findings audit opinion. 

"Provincial Treasury, Cogta, the Fleet Management and Housing Fund must retain their clean audits. Departments and entities should reduce unwanted expenditures by at least 30% from the previous financial year. Tangible action plans should be developed and implemented to clear the backlog of irregular expenditure and investigations within the next three financial years. That is what's going to happen and I want to thank everybody who has made us proud in the Free State,” Premier Ntombela adds.

Ntombela was flanked by MECs, including Mxolisi Dukwana, Motseng Tsiu, William Bulwane, Motshidisi Koloi, and Gadija Brown.

In June this year, Maluleke revealed that the Free State municipalities continued their wasteful spending of taxpayers' money with irregular expenditure increasing by almost R2 billion.

ALSO READ: Free State municipalities' irregular spending grows by R2 billion

Maluleke also told Members of Parliament (MPs) that three cash-strapped municipalities, including the Qwaqwa-based Maluti-A-Phofung, the Theunissen-based Masilonyana, and the Boshof-based Tokologo Local Municipalities failed to trace the trail of money spent by the municipalities.

ALSO READ: Free State municipalities fail to trace taxpayers' money

Only six municipalities in the Free State managed to obtain unqualified opinions but with findings, the rest of them obtained outstanding audits. The MEC for Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Mxolisi Dukwana, previously said his department wants to look into ethical leadership, to best serve residents across municipalities in the province.

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