Pretoria - It was a "historic" day for the Department of Home Affairs on Thursday, as the department celebrated its first unqualified audit in 16 years.
Champagne, the non-alcoholic kind, flowed on as Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma marked the significant achievement with her top management.
The department tabled its Annual Report for the 2010/11 financial year in both Houses of Parliament - the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces - on Thursday.
"We are happy to announce that in line with our commitment to the public and having put the necessary financial management mechanisms in place, in line with the Public Finance Management Act, the Auditor-General has found it fit and proper to issue an unqualified audit opinion on the department's finances for the 2010/2011 financial year," the minister said to much applause.
Dlamini Zuma described this as a significant development, noting that it was the department's first unqualified audit report since the dawn of peace, freedom and democracy in South Africa in 1994.
"In our walk towards an unqualified audit opinion, the Department of Home Affairs has become a normal department, simultaneously achieving improved levels of service delivery," she added.
The minister said the department's employees could be proud of the achievement and it should inspire them to strive harder to build a new Home Affairs.
"We appreciate the good work that was done by every single official of the department," Dlamini Zuma added.
The department had recruited the right people, put together good teams and inspired those on the ground to work harder, she noted.
She also acknowledged the dedication and hard work put in by senior managers at head office and in the provinces who had "toiled through night and day" to ensure the department met its obligations in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulations.
However, Dlamini Zuma was also quick to point out that the hard work was far from over.
"We are very conscious that this achievement poses a greater responsibility upon us all to maintain unqualified audit opinions in future [and to] do even better in the years to come," she said.
Highlighting the path that had led to the unqualified audit, the minister said her department implemented effective internal control measures.
The areas of finance and supply chain management, revenue and budget management, asset management and general control programmes were targeted and measures were put in place to address them. - BuaNews
