The Office of the Acting-Executive Mayor, Councilor Mpho Moerane, has been inundated with media enquiries relating to a leaked internal audit report of procurement within the City from 15 – 31 March 2020.
From the onset, the Executive Mayor Cllr Geoffrey Makhubo has said the City would adhere to strict supply chain management process in the wake of the pandemic and that any irregularities would be investigated and acted upon.
To this end and in line with the commitments made to transparency and good governance, the City has shared with Council the detailed reports on procurement and expenditure related to COVID-19 within the City. The Council meeting that was scheduled for 29 September 2020 was to have considered the latest update to Council on the above.
It is in keeping with the above spirit that the City established the Emergency Procurement Compliance Plan (EPCP) as from 01 April 2020 to manage the COVID-19 emergency expenditure, which included the establishment of an Emergency Expenditure Compliance and Monitoring Committee.
As a further intervention to guarantee compliance, the City through the Emergency Expenditure Compliance Monitoring Committee, requested internal audit in the City to conduct a special audit on all COVID-19 related procurement and adherence to the City’s supply management policies and processes. The leaked report is a draft status update that will be presented to the Mayoral Committee on Friday, 02 October 2020, for consideration and action.
“As the Government of Local Unity we will spare no effort in acting against maladministration, corruption and fraud. Once the report is finalized and presented, residents and ratepayers can be rest assured that we will take action against any persons found to have contravened the policies and processes that govern procurement in the City” said acting-Executive Mayor Moerane.
“The report will be shared with the Auditor-General and with law enforcement agencies should there be evidence of malfeasance and criminality. It is also our commitment to share such information with Council, as has been practice with all matters relating to COVID-19 and related procurement” said acting-Executive Mayor Moerane.
The Auditor-General, in the 2019/20 audit report, decried the lack of consequence management for financial misconduct within the City over the last financial years and that is a trend the current administration is committed to abolish and overturn.
Executive Mayor Geoffrey Makhubo is away on pre-arranged leave and will return to the office next week.
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For Media Enquiries
Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya
Acting-Director: Mayoral Communications
FikileMoya@joburg.org.za
081 417 1871
