The Umzumbe Municipality leadership remains intact, active, and committed to addressing the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) findings with a structured and transparent approach

This was the view of municipal manager Shaka Cele who took the reins in January 2025. Prior to his arrival the AGSA findings were that the municipality had been functioning without a municipal manager and chief financial officer for some time.

The AGSA presented findings in the audit outcomes for the 2023/24 financial year that ended on June 30, 2024 to the KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Portfolio Committee last month. 

The AGSA stated in its report that vacancies in key positions disrupted appropriate segregation of duties and hindered adequate review by various levels of staff, which contributed to the submission of financial statements that were not credible or reliable.

The AGSA raised concerns about weaknesses in financial controls, compliance, and governance raised by the A-G when they visited the municipality.

The AGSA also found:

• weak internal controls during the year resulted in numerous errors and insufficient supporting evidence across transactions and balances in the financial statements.

• Failure to implement audit recommendations, particularly in areas of financial management and compliance with legislation.

• Lack of effective consequence management, which has limited accountability for repeated misstatements and control deficiencies.

Cele said that under his leadership, the municipality has implemented a well-structured Audit Action Plan in direct response to the findings, which cited 34 audit issues. 

He said that regular meetings of the audit steering committee are convened to oversee progress, identify challenges, and ensure accountability in the execution of this plan. 

In addition to the above, Cele said, the Provincial Treasury and AGSA office conducted follow-up assessments in May 2025.

“We are currently implementing their recommendations. Further, Cogta actively participates in our Audit Steering Committee. While the audit identified areas of improvement in financial controls and compliance, some of these stemmed from historical vacancies which have since been addressed,” he said.

Cele said that the AGSA recommendations were constructive and have been embraced by the current administration with a clear roadmap and measurable progress indicators, adding that his teams are working diligently to correct past challenges. 

“These corrective actions illustrate an administration that is responsive, accountable, and functional which is a far cry from an institution that may at one point have been regarded as being a crisis but is instead currently recovering,” he said 

Umzumbe Local Municipality is part of Ugu District Municipality and is located along the KZN south coastal strip between uMthwalume and Mfazazana.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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