Mbhashe Local Municipality
III. Ntshatshongo
3.5 KPA 5: GOOD GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION The following functional areas are dealt with in this KPA
3.5.4 SPECIAL PROGRAMMES
The Special Programmes Unit (SPU) is located in the office of the Municipal Manager and has a dedicated official assigned to manage this function. The focal priority area for SPU is:
I. Youth II. Women III. HIV/AIDS
IV. People Living With Disability V. Older Persons
VI. Children
VII. Military Veterans
The SPU facilitates the integration and mainstreaming of the designated groups into the development of the Municipality by creating the necessary / conducive environment both internal and external through establishment of structures that will promote participation of youth, Woman, Disabled, Children, Elderly, HIV/AIDS infected individuals and Military Veterans in our local Municipality. The municipality already developed the SPU strategy
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that covers all the above areas and assisting the municipality in mainstreaming its programmes.
Structures that have been established
I. Women’s Forum had been established and launched in the month of August 2014 II. People Living with Disability Forum- these have been launched at Unit level i.e.
Dutywa, Willowvale and Elliotdale. Also In the month of October 2014 Mbhashe People with Disabilities forum as the mother body has since been launched
III. Older persons structure has been established by Department of Social Development although there are some challenges in terms of the recognition at Ward level.
Some of the structures that still need to be established:
I. Youth Development Forum – these have been launched at both ward and Unit levels i.e Dutywa, Willowvale and Elliotdale however there is still a need to establish Mbhashe Youth Council which its function will be to coordinate Youth programmes in the municipality.
II. Mbhashe Local AIDS Council is in the plan of being established in the year 2014/15 which it objective will be to coordinate programmes and develop plans for reduction of HIV/AIDS infections and on how to care for those affected and infected.
III. Children’s Advisory Council is budgeted for and is will be established in the 2014/15 and its objective will be to coordinate programmes and strategies for children between the ages of 0-14 years.
Youth Learners Licensing Programme:
Mbhashe Local Municipality signed a memorandum of understanding with King Hintsa VET College and COEGA and NYDA and the objective of the programme is to assist the students of the college to acquire Drivers Learners Licence.
Social Cohesion
The Mayoral Tournament has been allocated budget for 2014/15 and will be an annual event and is budget. The tournament focuses on the development of youth through various sport activities. This project has culminated from the areas where the youth of
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this locality have been seen participating in wrong activities causing detrimental effects in their lives.
It further regenerates positive moral values of young people both in school and out of school; promotes healthy and positive lifestyle; elevates the profile of sports, recreation, arts & culture in the area; Mbhashe municipality; focuses on mass participation in sporting activities at provincial level; enables youth expose exclusive talents and gifts and last but not least minimizes crime rate, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Challenges
I. Structures although established lack understanding of roles.
II. Although SPU Strategy was developed for 2013/14 it lacked an implementation plan to enable it to be mainstreamed internally so that other department’s plans would respond to the strategy.
III. There are gaps also with the strategy as it should incorporate plans of sector departments.
IV. Lack of Proper coordination for Provision of Early Childhood Development Centers V. Lack of mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS to both internal and external
VI. Sport programmes are also directed to this Unit.
VII. There is only one official who is a dedicated official for the Unit
VIII. Involvement of various sector departments and other relevant stakeholders
IX. There are still challenges in as far as the drivers learners programme is concerned as there is still no proper follow ups to assist the participants to acquire driver licences.
Remedial Action
I. In the organogram there are 2 vacant post for SPU coordinators to beef up the unit and these should be included in the 2015/16 budget
II. Establishment, and capacitation of structures III. Development of HIV/AIDS Policy
IV. To review SPU strategy and inclusion of implementation plan as part of mainstreaming the strategy
X. Roping in of various sector departments and other relevant stakeholders as they play an important role such as technical support in socially driven activities
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XI. Facilitation of incorporation of drivers learners programme with the department of Community Services.
XII. Facilitate for Provision of Early Childhood Development Centres 3.5.5 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Risk Management and Fraud Mitigation
Risk Management within the Municipality is considered to be in a developmental stage. A Risk Management Framework has been approved and a risk identification process conducted. Code of conduct is signed by all staff members. This assists to inculcate ethos of adherence to a set of Ethics and good conduct. Fraud and corruption which is a challenge to all government institutions and this institution is not spared either. The draft fraud prevention plan has been developed and will be finalised after workshop to councillors in the first quarter of 2015/16 financial year. This will be the measure to fight corruption and fraud which will be introduced to promote good corporate governance.
Internal Audit
The Municipality has established an Internal Audit Unit which operates in accordance with an approved Internal Audit Charter. The Units mandate is spelled out in the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act. The Internal Audit is mandated or governed by the Institute of Professional Practice for Internal Auditors (IPPIA). This includes providing advice to the accounting officer and audit committee on matters relating to internal audits, internal controls, accounting procedures and practices, risk and risk management, performance management, loss control, and compliance with applicable legislation. The Internal Auditor reports directly on operation issues to the Accounting Officer on functionally to the Audit Committee.
Currently the unit comprises of one permanent official and one Intern and a student trainee.
Audit Outcomes
The municipality has received a qualified audit opinion for the financial year ended as at 30 June 2014. When looking at the findings from management letter the municipality has regressed when compared to the outcomes of the year-ended 30 June 2013. The municipality has been qualified on the following areas:
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I. Irregular Expenditure;
II. Property, plant and equipment;
III. Investment properties;
IV. Employee costs; and V. Consumer debtors
An action plan has been developed to address issues raised by auditors and a process plan for submission of the annual financial statements.
The action plan assist in resolving all matters that were identified by auditor general and lead to qualified audit reports, as well as to fast track efforts in addressing identified risk areas. This will lead to improved internal controls and compliance with relevant legislations.
AUDIT OPINION COMPARISON FOR THE THREE PREVIOUS YEARS
2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
Audit Outcome Qualification Qualification Qualification
Table 28
Challenges
I. Insufficient personnel within the municipality;
II. Information not provided to the auditors timeously;
III. Audit is still viewed by other departments as the responsibility of Budget and Treasury only;
IV. Performance management system not implemented for the entire municipality;
V. Lack of leadership within the BTO section due to the CFO working offsite and subsequently resigning;
Remedial Action
I. Development and monitoring actions plans;
II. Municipality needs to plan ahead for the audit;
III. The municipality needs to fill all vacant positions;
IV. The accounting officer must chair all audit steering committee meetings and encourage all departments to play their roles during the audit;
V. The municipality must implement a performance management system;
VI. The municipality needs to appoint a full-time CFO;
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VII. The municipality must review and monitor its internal controls in order to strengthen its control environment itself.
The table below illustrates the summary of the audit action plan
Item Status Description
1. Irregular