Cape Town - The DA controlled Stellenbosch Municipality has defended an R240,000 performance given to its Municipal Manager (MM), in the face of criticism from opposition councillors.
The opposition councillors on the council claim the hefty bonus was unearned because the council only received an unqualified audit with findings, as opposed to a clean audit from the Auditor General.
EFF councillor Derrick Hendrikse claims that Municipality Manager Geraldine Mettler
was undeserving because: “It is very clear from the findings the AG picked up a lot of misstatements and errors in the financial statements and the CFO and Municipal Manager must correct these.”
It was the Municipality’s 10th consecutive unqualified audit. An unqualified audit means that the financial statements and on reporting on performance objectives are fairly and appropriately represented and are in compliance with accounting standards.
Audit findings are based on evidence about how the municipality’s operations measure up against the audit criteria.
In a statement Stellenbosch Munilpality’s Communications manager Stuart Grobbelaar said, “All performance bonuses are determined based on a wide range clearly set Key Performance Indicators. These bonuses are recommended by an independent Performance Evaluation Committee and finally approved by Council.”
“We remain incredibly proud of our unqualified audit opinion and continuously work to improve our financial management practices in the interest of our residents,” said Grobbelaar.
Grobbelaar said: “Council has fully disclosed what the finding is. The AG report is a public document and is widely obtainable. The audit outcome reflects that the municipality maintained a healthy financial position year on year. The AG reported one area for improvement as far as it relates to the annual financial statements closeout procedures. As part of leadership and management’s continuous commitment to evolve, the municipality has already taken steps to implement the recommendation of the AG in this regard.”
@MwangiGithahu
Cape Argus
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