DESTEA Receives a Clean Audit Report from AGSA for 2024/25 Financial Year
The department adopted a strategy towards the achievement of a clean audit outcome a few years ago. This strategy rests on the implementation of effective internal controls, improving the quality of infrastructure delivery, and implementing Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) recommendations and directives. The approach ensured that every financial transaction was done within the financial prescripts to avoid irregular expenditure.
Furthermore, the department did not drop the ball over the years and remains committed to ensuring good governance. It is through collective actions of management and staff in general that the department witnessed improvements in audit outcomes, from Qualified to Unqualified with findings in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. In 2024/25 financial year, the department improved to Unqualified with no findings. This endorsement by the office of the AGSA served to strengthen the department’s continued commitment towards good governance.
The clean audit opinion means that the DESTEA 2024/25 audited Annual Financial Statements were free from material misstatements, that no irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure incidents were reported. It also confirms that the reported performance is supported by valid, reliable, and complete performance evidence. MEC Ketso Makume congratulated all the staff, from a cleaner to the Head of Department.
MEC further welcomed the audit report and believes that the department has pushed a step further in its high level of excellence and professionalism towards receiving a clean audit opinion. “I would like to congratulate the team for sterling work in ensuring that we spend the money entrusted to us by the people of the Free State in a prudent and responsible manner. Meeting the standards of AGSA clearly indicates that the department developed and stringently implemented action plans aimed at correcting the deficiencies identified during the previous years audits,” MEC said. MEC Makume highlighted that the department will strengthen the support to entities to make sure that they also get better audit opinions.
