Investigating the impact of the auditor-general at the greater Kokstad Municipality to improve service delivery.

Abstract

The South African Government constitutes three spheres, namely, National, Provincial and Local government. Local government (through municipalities) is the closest sphere to the communities for which government provides basic services (Statistics South Africa, 2016). Most municipalities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal are confronted with service delivery challenges which, in some instances, culminate into service delivery protests. At the centre of the service delivery challenges experienced by municipalities, amongst other, are the ailing administrative systems of governance and internal controls, instances of non-compliance and sometimes ineffective oversight. The Auditor-general, through the Public Audit Act (2004), is mandated to conduct statutory external audits in municipalities based on the annual financial statements and performance reports prepared annually. This study entailed the investigation of the impact of the Auditor-General in improving service delivery, and was performed at the Greater Kokstad Municipality, in KwaZulu-Natal. The data for the study was collected using quantitative methods through the use of a questionnaire completed physically by 33 participants who comprised of councillors, audit committee, top management, middle management and operational employees of the municipality. The study revealed that in essence the audit process adopted by the auditor-general is participative (though perceived as not completely inclusive) and is relatively construed to constitute a favourable ambient for the auditee. The study further revealed that (to some extent) the external audit performed by the auditorgeneral has an impact in improving service delivery at the Greater Kokstad Local municipality. However, the study also revealed that the external audit (by auditorgeneral) does not necessarily add value, and this is influenced by, inter-alia, factors such as the perceived lack of service delivery orientation in the AG audit approach, and the less experienced auditors who lack requisite knowledge of the local government sector. Although physical verification of projects is performed during the audit there is perceived lack of technical skills to qualitatively audit core service delivery programs, coupled with inadequate interpretation and application of legislation on issues of supply chain management and the impact on service delivery. It is also generally perceived that the service delivery paradigm is not at the centre of the audit approach.