The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
The summary of the findings are as follows:
The current Registrar and 6th Term Council are not aware of any resolutions that would have been adopted by the 4th Term Council on the items referred to above and the governance processes with regards to reporting, which were led by the then Audit and Risk Committee. The Registrar has learned however that the Audit and Risk Committee who would have been responsible for working with the forensic auditors and addressing the report, resigned before the matter was finalised.
Nonetheless, through the requisite internal and external audits conducted during the tenure of the current Registrar, as described in the response to Section 2 below, many improvements have been effected to address gaps in the operating environment. Some of the improvements are as follows:
The above have been consistently reported in the Council’s Annual Reports, which are submitted to Parliament, through the office of the Minister, annually.
2. The SACPCMP constitutes an Audit and Risk Committee (ARC), empowered by Section 17 of the Project and Construction Management Professions Act, No. 48 of 2000, through which the Council provides regular oversight on all activities and reporting by internal and external auditors for the term of the Council.
All internal and external audits are based on an approved audit plan and conducted to ensure good governance within the entity and its operations. As part of the Council’s audit planning the following applies:
2.1. External audits
These audits are conducted by external audit firms and an opinion on the Council’s financial statements is issued. The audited financial statements and signed audit report part of the Council’s Annual Report, which is submitted to Parliament, annually.
There have not been any significant audit findings in the past three years. Most findings are cleared by the time the audit report is issued. The Council has achieved an unqualified audit opinion for the past few years, indicating that the financial statements were free from material misstatements.
2.2. Internal Audits
These audits are conducted regularly as per the approved internal audit plan. The plan, which details the areas to be reviewed, is prepared by internal auditors and approved by the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC). The activities of the ARC are reported in the Annual Report. The following areas are reviewed regularly:
The above audits are conducted to assess the Council’s internal controls and identify any deficiencies.
As part of remedial action following any audit, Management develops an implementation plan to enhance current processes and to address material deficiencies noted by internal auditors. Management developed an audit matrix for all areas audited during the 2021/2022 financial and quarterly monitoring is done by the ARC on the progress with implementation (ref: SACPCMP Annual Report 2021/22; Section C, Part 16).
3. Question: whether he will furnish Ms S J Graham with a copy of the report including details of (a) the major findings, (b) what remedial actions were taken to resolve any identified issues and (c) what consequence management resulted from the audit; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details
SACPCMP Response: See SACPCMP Response above to Questions 1 and 2:
4. As part of the SACPCMP’s audit remedial action, in relation to all audits that are undertaken, Council Management develops implementation plans to address material deficiencies noted by internal auditors. This is informed by the audit matrix for all areas where remedial actions are required. Quarterly monitoring is done by the ARC on the progress with regard to implementation. Most of the findings are cleared and Council ensures that internal controls are improved to prevent repeat or recurring findings.
The following are issues that are put on the audit matrix and summary is provided in terms of the outcomes of the management actions around the findings:
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MR. S ZIKALALA, MP
MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
DATE: