100% of WCG departments receive unqualified audit opinions

A presentation before the Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Budget Committee today revealed that 100% of provincial government departments received a clean or unqualified with findings audit opinion for the 2021/2022 financial year.

An impressive 85.7% of Western Cape Government Departments (including the Western Cape Provincial Parliament) received a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) and 14.3% received unqualified with findings. Combined, this amounts to 100% of all provincial departments receiving positive audit opinions.

The Auditor-General (AG) can classify audit outcomes into several categories, the best opinions being clean and unqualified with findings.

Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger said: “I would like to congratulate my colleagues in cabinet, our accounting officers, CFOs, and of course, all our employees across the government for making sure the Western Cape Government maintains its excellent track-record of good governance in South Africa. This is quite frankly an unparalleled achievement in our country.”

The Minister added: “We place a strong emphasis on good governance and strong financial management because it is a necessary foundation for efficient service delivery, boosting business confidence and economic growth and ultimately improving the lives of our residents.”

Commenting on the Department of Health and Wellness’s clean audit finding, Minister Wenger said: “It is remarkable and worthy of the highest praise that a Department, under so much pressure during the pandemic, was able to achieve the best possible opinion. My congratulations go to Minister Nomafrench Mbombo and Head of Department, Dr. Keith Cloete.”

Reporting on the outcomes of the public entities, 90.1% received either clean or unqualified with findings audit opinions for the period under review.

Minister Wenger said: “I would like to also congratulate the boards of our public entities, as their accounting officers, for this achievement. If one considers the management of State-Owned Enterprises nationally, this really is a shining example to the rest of the country and demonstrates what is possible in South Africa if we get our governance right.”

Media Queries:

Georgina Maree

Spokesperson for the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities

(Responsible for the Provincial Treasury and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism)

Cell: 076 423 7541

Email: georgina.maree@westerncape.gov.za