Pretoria - The Presidency says it has presented its Annual Report for 2011/ 2012 financial year with an unqualified audit opinion.
In a statement on Friday, the Presidency said it was pleased to receive an unqualified audit report from the Auditor General.
"This magnificent achievement is due to tighter monitoring and controls which were introduced that led to this unqualified audit opinion. Furthermore the Presidency introduced measures to reduce spending and ensure that there is better fiscal discipline within the Presidency," it said.
It did, however, note a "few matters of emphasis" which required more attention and improvement, such as issues of non-compliance which related to contractual matters, payment of suppliers within 30 days, preference points system for goods above R30 000 and irregular expenditure. Measures have been introduced to address these matters.
The work of the Presidency over the past year was guided by the Strategic and the Annual Performance Plans which were presented to Parliament.
"The Presidency continued to fulfill its constitutional mandate to monitor the implementation of the government programme of action with emphasis on the five priorities," said the Presidency.
In this year, President Jacob Zuma conducted five Siyahlola performance monitoring and evaluation visits in the provinces of the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Free State.
The Deputy President undertook anti-poverty visits where the focus has been identification of household change agents. "These change agents, about 200 000 of them, are provided with the necessary support, including linking them to economic opportunities and helping them access further education and training colleges. The visits were undertaken in all nine provinces," it said.
The President and Deputy President also undertook several engagements with critical stakeholders to promote an inclusive development agenda. These include the Presidential Summit on Job Creation with leaders of major trade unions and business leaders to contribute towards the goal of job creation. In July 2011, government established the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Committee (PICC) led by President. The PICC has already developed an infrastructure development plan for the country with 17 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPS) of which some of them have been launched. The terms of the Anti-poverty Inter-Ministerial Committee were reformulated to establish the short term Job Creation Commission.
"The Presidential Review Committee on State Owned Enterprises (PRC) has concluded its work and presented its final report to the President. In November 2011, the National Planning Commission released a draft vision statement and a draft National Development Plan for public consideration," its said.
In the international arena, South Africa's international stature and responsibilities have increased substantially, said the Presidency, adding that South Africa facilitated and provided oversight of interventions and strategies for programmes to promote improved conditions of peace, stability, security, democracy and good governance, while strengthening south-south relations and maintaining north-south relations.
"The President also continued in his mediation efforts in the Ivory Coast, the African Union's attempts at mediation in Libya. He was also appointed as Chairperson of the SADC Troika and SADC Mediator on Zimbabwe.
"The President was also the co-chair with the former President of Finland of the Global Sustainability Panel. South Africa has also assumed the presidency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and joined the BRICS formation. These international engagements had a significant impact on the Presidency budget and operations," added the Presidency.
