Johannesburg - Two departments in the Gauteng Provincial Government received clean audit reports, while 11 departments received unqualified reports for the 2009/2010 financial year.
Of the two remaining departments, Infrastructure Development received a qualified report while the Health and Social Development received a disclaimer.
Addressing the media shortly after the Auditor General's report to the executive council on Wednesday, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane was particularly happy with the clean audit outcomes of the Office of the Premier and the Department of Treasury.
"We were pleased that the benchmark that the province has set itself, that of being more answerable to the citizens of Gauteng, is bearing fruit as confirmed by the clean audit outcomes of the Office of the Premier and Treasury," she said.
The two departments had set standards for the best practice in the province, she added.
The report by Auditor General Terrence Nombebe demonstrated a "discernable improvement" in the way in which Gauteng's departments complied with the terms of the Public Finance Management Act and governance issues, the premier said.
She attributed the improvements to interventions aimed at enhancing compliance and accountability that were introduced last year.
"We believe this will go a long way in building public confidence and accountability on how we spend public funds, while improving service delivery and strengthening our democracy," Mokonyane said.
On the issue of the disclaimer received by the Health and Social Development Department, the premier noted that some of the issues raised by the audit outcomes were historical but stressed that the executive council had made a commitment to address the areas that required improvement and an enhancement of accurate record keeping and reporting.
"The executive council committed themselves to increasing public confidence in the way public funds are spent and receiving clean audits by 2014," she said.
A team spearheaded by the Treasury and the chief financial officers of all the departments would ensure systems are in place to better track performance.
Other measures to be implemented include closer monitoring by the executive authorities and accounting officers, as well as better management of assets and disclosure items.
Mokoyane also announced that MECs and heads of departments will be held accountable for financial decisions made by their departments.
For his part, Nombebe said it was encouraging that the two departments that were expected to lead by example had shown good practices and received clean audits.
However, he also noted that there were still departments that needed improvement in areas such as the management of human resources and procurement.
Meanwhile, the premier also announced that Nosiwe Nokwe had been appointed as the new Director General of the province and would take up her post on 1 November.
