FOUR out of 16 government entities in the Free State achieved clean audits in the 2022/23 financial year, the Auditor General of South Africa has reported.
While the provincial Treasury, Fleet Management and Housing Fund have retained their status from the previous financial year, they have now been joined by the provincial Legislature which has improved from an unqualified audit opinion with findings to an unqualified opinion with no findings.
This means these four auditees produced quality financial statements free of material misstatements – in other words, errors or omissions that are so significant that they affect the credibility and reliability of the financial statements – and complied with key legislation relating to financial and performance management.
There were also marked improvements in the audit outcomes at three other provincial government departments.
Agriculture and Rural Development; Social Development; and Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs departments improved from qualified to unqualified opinions with findings.
A financially unqualified opinion with findings means the auditee was able to produce good-quality financial statements that had no material misstatements, but struggled to produce good-quality performance reports and/or to comply with all relevant key legislation.
There was also an improvement at the Office of the Premier which moved from a disclaimed opinion to a qualified opinion over the administrative term.
“We commend the efforts of seven auditees who heeded our call and improved their audit outcomes over the term of this administration,” Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke said.
In contrast, the Free State Development Corporation regressed from a qualified opinion in 2018/19 to an adverse opinion in 2022/23.
An adverse opinion means that the auditee’s financial statements included so many material misstatements that the auditor disagreed with virtually all the amounts and disclosures included there. – Staff Reporter