BLOEMFONTEIN: The Free State Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs’ (Destea) receipt of a clean audit report is benchmarking the long-term strategic plan of accountability.
This is according to Ketso Makume, MEC for the Department of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, commenting on the side of his department’s receipt of clean audit from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) for the 2024-’25 financial year.
A clean audit implies the money has been used ideally, and for the intended programmes or purposes.
This is an improvement from the audit outcome for the 2022-’23 financial year.
The clean audit opinion means that the Destea audited Annual Financial Statements for 2024-’25 were free from material misstatements, and that no irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure incidents were reported.
Makume said the department adopted the strategy towards the achievement of a clean audit outcome a few years ago.
“This strategy rests on the implementation of effective internal controls, improving the quality of infrastructure delivery, and implementing AGSA recommendations and directives.
“The approach ensured that every financial transaction was done within the financial prescripts to avoid irregular expenditure,” he said.
According to Makume, a clean audit signals buy-in by the department’s employees, who did not drop the ball over the years following adoption of the strategy.
“The department remains committed to ensuring good governance. It is through collective actions of management and staff in general that the department witnessed improvements in audit outcomes, from qualified to unqualified with findings in the 2022-’23 and 2023-’24 financial years,” he said.
“This endorsement by the office of the AGSA serves to strengthen the department’s continued commitment towards good governance.
“It also confirms that the reported performance is supported by valid, reliable, and complete performance evidence,” said Makume, further congratulating the entire staff, which includes the head of the department.
He believes the report outcome signals that the department is on the path of excellence and professionalism.
“I would like to congratulate the team for their sterling work in ensuring that we spend the money entrusted to us by the people of the Free State in a prudent and responsible manner.
“Meeting the standards of the AGSA clearly indicates that the department developed and stringently implemented action plans aimed at correcting the deficiencies identified during the previous years’ audits,” said Makume.
