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Audit Committee

28 March 2024 Notice of a MPAC Meeting on 03 April 2024 at 14:00

Notice of a MPAC Meeting on 03 April 2024 at 14:00

Notice number: 36/2024

Notice is hereby given that an MPAC MEETING of the Garden Route District Municipality will be held at the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) Committee Room, and via Zoom, 54 York Street, George, on 03 April 2024 at 14:00.

MG Stratu
Municipal Manager
54 York Street
P.O Box 12
GEORGE
6530

CLICK HERE to open the official notice

22 June 2022 Media Release: Chairperson appointed to the GRDM APAC

Media Release: Chairperson appointed to the GRDM APAC

For Immediate Release
22 June 2022

Today, during an Ordinary Council meeting, the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Council approved the proposed appointment of Alewijn Dippenaar as the new Chairperson of the Audit and Performance Audit Committee (APAC). The previous Chairperson, Dr Adele Potgieter’s role came to an end on 30 March 2022 after she formed part of APAC since 1 November 2012.

Dippenaar has a special interest in auditing, performance management, and relevant fields of legislation and training. He has in the past served as an APAC member for Swartland Municipality for 10 years, 6 years for Mossel Bay, George, Kannaland and for the GRDM years ago. He is also currently the Chairperson of Oudtshoorn and Prins Albert Municipalities’ APAC. These are only some of the leadership and other key roles he has fulfilled to date in the Local Government sphere.

Council also today resolved to appoint Christo Lamprecht as a member of APAC for a period of three years. Lamprecht is a registered Chartered Accountant (SA) and has vast experience in internal audit and accounting fields. He also served as APAC Member, APAC delegate to the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and Risk Management Committee (RMC) Chairperson at George Municipality for the period 2018 – 2021.

Council also requested the administration to re-advertise for a 5th member in the APAC to ensure there is a fair balance between race and gender on the Committee.

According to Pamela Lufele, GRDM Chief Audit Executive: “In accordance to Section 166 of the MFMA relating to the constitution of Audit Committees as well as the execution of their duties, it is integral that the Committee possess different skill sets in order to efficiently and effectively perform their function. I am proud to state that the formation of GRDM’s APAC has skills relating to Performance Management, Risk Management, IDP, Policy formulation, Finance, Internal Audit and Legal to name a few. This provides the end-user departments confidence that the oversight provided by the committee will be of value and enhance the processes of GRDM and bring the successes of the municipality to even greater heights.”

The full list of the four (4) current APAC members include the following:

Alewijn Dippenaar (Chairperson), Suren Maharaj (member), Lindiwe Mtunzi (member) and Christo Lamprecht (member).

Section 166(4)(a) of the Municipal Finance Management Act states: “An audit committee must consist of at least three persons with appropriate experience, of whom the majority may not be in the employ of the municipality or municipal entity”.

The GRDM APAC Charter requires its members to collectively possess the following skills and experience to efficiently fulfil their duties:

  • Private and public sector experience;
  • An understanding of service delivery priorities;
  • Good governance and/or financial management experience;
  • An understanding of the role of GRDM’s council and councillors;
  • Familiarity with risk management practices;
  • An understanding of internal controls;
  • An understanding of major accounting practices and frameworks (ISO 9001) and public sector reporting requirements;
  • Familiarity with legislation applicable to municipalities;
  • And understanding of the roles and responsibilities of internal and external auditors;
  • An understanding of the treatment of allegations and investigations;
  • An understanding of the performance management system; and
  • At least one member must have expertise in performance management.

Feature image: The GRDM Council approved two appointments today, that of the Chairperson and a new member to APAC.

ENDS

12 April 2022 Media Release: Several Garden Route DM APAC members complete their terms

Media Release: Several Garden Route DM APAC members complete their terms

For Immediate Release
12 April 2022

After years of strategic services rendered to the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Audit and Performance Audit Committee (APAC), the terms of three (3) members have come to an end.

Dr Adele Potgieter, the outgoing Chairperson of APAC, finished her term yesterday. She commenced her duties on 1 November 2012, Advocate Derick Block served on the Committee from 1 March 2016 until 31 October 2021, and Mr Geoff Stenekamp served on APAC from 1 September 2017 until 28 February 2022.

APAC’s primary role is to advise the municipal council, political office bearers, accounting officers, and management of the Municipality about several matters. These include, but are not limited to, financial control and reporting, internal audit, risk management, accounting policies, performance management, governance, performance evaluations, and other matters referred by the institution.

Therefore, the effectiveness of this Committee requires an appropriate mix of professional skills, which are the prerequisites the GRDM identified for APAC members to hold. Appointing APAC members can be a daunting task because finding the relevant skills locally or regionally is not always possible. This is experienced all over the country.

The Chairperson of APAC’s leadership role is central to setting the tone of the work style and ensures that each agenda contributes to the effectiveness of the Committee.

BRIEF EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND OF OUTOING MEMBERS

Dr Potgieter is a Senior Lecturer at Nelson Mandela University. She holds a PhD in Business Management, Marketing, and related support services, a BCom Investment Honours, and a BA degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology. She’s also served on numerous audit committees

Advocate Block holds a B. luris, LLB, and Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. He has served on more than fifteen (15) committees and boards. He has vast knowledge and experience in local, provincial, and national government, legal, constitutional matters, risk management, audit, corporate governance, and compliance.

Mr Geoffrey Stenekamp has Bsc, BCompt degrees, and he is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA). He was the national leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and has served on three (3) other Audit Committees before.

CLOSING REMARKS

During Dr Potgieter’s closing remarks, she recalled the journey she walked with the Municipality for more than a decade. “I’ve done countless performance appraisals, worked with various municipal managers, mayors and other professional staff.” She also shared how proud she is of the functional managers of Internal Audit, Risk Management and Performance Management, who have grown immensely since she started working for the GRDM.

“I have learned to work with many good people, new employees – young and old. However, what stood out for me is their willingness to work together – employees want to do good in this Municipality,” she said. “Thank you on behalf of APAC for the diligence on your financial statements. I wish you well going forward. May your days be blessed, and think of us fondly going forward. She also thanked Mr Stratu and the GRDM Council for their leadership.

In her advice to the APAC, she said: “Always stay independent, don’t get gobbed down by others and listen to your heart.”

During his closing remarks at an APAC engagement yesterday, Acting Municipal Manager Lusanda Menze said: “Thank you for the service of APAC and what it has done for the community in its entirety and us.” When referring to the APAC as advisors, Menze referred expressly to Proverbs about wisdom and listening to advisors. “You have also helped steer GRDM to attain a clean audit.”

The GRDM is grateful for the outgoing APAC members and the positive contribution they’ve made and wishes them the best for their future endeavours.

ENDS

6 December 2021 Media Release: Garden Route DM celebrates Clean Audit and commits to retain it

Media Release: Garden Route DM celebrates Clean Audit and commits to retain it

For Immediate Release
6 December 2021

The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) is pleased to announce that it has achieved a clean audit outcome for the 2020/2021 financial year. A clean audit is an unqualified audit opinion, with no findings, issued by the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) during their audit on financial statements, annual performance report and compliance to legislation.

This outstanding achievement confirms that the GRDM spent the public funds according to the applicable laws, regulations and policies.

Watch the video:

Nine (9) months ago, GRDM reported that it had missed a clean audit because of one finding. However, the municipality gradually addressed all the issues that the AGSA raised in the past while ensuring its financial management ethos at all levels of the organisation were enhanced. “We have instilled a culture of sound financial management, prudent financial choices, efficiency and accountability,” said Monde Stratu, Municipal Manager.  “We will do our very best to retain a clean audit for years to come and not to drop our standards,” he said.

Re-elected GRDM Executive Mayor Alderman Memory Booysen says that although South Africa faces a challenging economic situation, those in the Garden Route and investors can be assured that the Municipality remains committed to good governance.

“We will continue to spend public money to the best of our ability.”

Booysen hopes that this achievement will inspire other municipalities in the Garden Route to do better and improve governance. Mayor Booysen also made particular reference to Dr Adele Potgieter, Independent Member and Chairperson of the Audit and Performance Audit Committee (APAC) and her team for the oversight they provided on the Municipality’s financial reporting process. Other members of APAC at GRDM include Advocate Derick Block, Geoff Stenekamp and Suren Maharaj.

Also, Ald. Booysen extended his appreciation to Cllr Clodia Lichaba, Chairperson: Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and her fellow Councillors who exercised oversight over the executive functionaries of the council to ensure good governance in the institution.

Jan-Willem De Jager, Chief Financial Officer and Thembani Loliwe, Strategic Manager, also played a pivotal role in ensuring that the GRDM achieved a clean audit status. They worked hand in hand to ensure the municipality’s Operational Clean Audit Report (OPCAR) was implemented in response to the AGSA Management Reports from the previous financial years. “Various controls had to be put in place to ensure that the AG did not find similar issues as last year,” said Loliwe. “To mention just one example of control improvement, during the 2017/18 financial year, procurement through the supply chain deviation process was valued at more than R23 000 000 and in 2020/21 financial year that amount has reduced to less than R2 000 000, which is a result of thorough control interventions”  added Loliwe.

“During their audit, the AGSA focused on bulk infrastructure, supply chain management, and financial statements.”

De Jager specifically referenced the strides the GRDM made with procurement. “This year, we had no findings on procurement.”

The CFO has also shared his thank yous to officials who engaged with the AG because it was done in a respectful manner. The AGSA has been victimised for years in other parts of the country, where they often receive death threats, get offered bribes and are victims of intimidation.

GRDM remains committed to ensuring that it has all preventative controls in place and good governance, as organisational culture, continues for years to come. The audit outcome is, therefore, is a result of a concerted effort by all officials to ensure that good governance and sound financial management remain at the heart of what we do at the Municipality,” said Monde Stratu.

ENDS

Eden greets two great minds

Fltr, back row: Mr Jan-Willem de Jager – Chief Audit Executive, MsTrix Holtzhausen – Executive Manager: Corporate Services, Dr Adele Potgieter – Member of the Audit Committee and Mr Hans Ottervanger – Executive Manager: Roads Services.
Fltr, front row: Ms Pamela Lufele – Senior Internal Auditor, Ms Mariska Pieterse – Internal Auditor, Adv Derick Block – Member of the Audit Committee, Mr Jolyon Stoffels – Chairperson of Audit Committee, Ms Lauren James – Risk Management Officer and Mr Neil Metelerkamp – Member of the Audit Committee.

Thursday, 31st August 2017 marked the end of Mr Stoffels’s role as Chairperson and Mr Metelerkamp as a member of Eden DM’s Audit and Performance Audit Committee (APAC). The Municipal Manager, Management, fellow APAC members together with the Internal Audit Section, expressed their gratitude for their service to the organisation throughout the years and awarded them with Certificates of Appreciation during the APAC meeting held on 25 August 2017.

Messrs Stoffels and Metelerkamp with the Certificates of Appreciation, which they received during their last APAC meeting.