Andile Moshoeshoe
THE Harry Gwala District Municipality is charting a deliberate and ambitious course towards audit excellence, forging strategic alliances with high-performing municipalities to ensure that every local authority under its jurisdiction attains the coveted clean audit outcome.
This renewed drive unfolds against a backdrop of relative financial stability across the district’s municipalities including the Greater Kokstad Municipality, Johannes Phumani Phungula Local Municipality, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Local Municipality and Umzimkhulu Local Municipality.
These municipalities have consistently secured unqualified audit opinions, albeit tempered by recurring matters of emphasis.
In pursuit of this ideal, the district has entered into a strategic partnership with the King Cetshwayo District Municipality, a benchmark institution celebrated for securing 12 consecutive clean audits without matters of emphasis.
This collaboration signals not merely cooperation, but a decisive recalibration towards institutional discipline, accountability and enduring financial integrity.
A high-level workshop was convened to extract practical insights from a municipality that has mastered the architecture of clean governance.
Setting the tone at the workshop, Harry Gwala District Municipality manager Gamakhulu Sineke argued that institutional progress begins with the humility to acknowledge shortcomings and the courage to correct them.
Offering perspective from a municipality that has navigated similar terrain, King Cetshwayo Municipal Manager Philani Sibiya paid tribute to former manager Nkululeko Biyase for laying a stable foundation upon which further progress has been built.
Sibiya cautioned that a clean audit is not a ceremonial milestone, but a daily discipline.
“To safeguard this standard, municipalities must evolve continuously, embracing technological systems that enhance transparency, efficiency and control,” he said.
