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The Eastern Cape provincial government said it would be paying particular attention to the Departments of Health and Education after they both received qualified audit opinions.
Premier Oscar Mabuyane said his office and provincial treasury will be providing support to the two key departments, which annually swallow up the bulk of the provincial budget.
"The ECPG remains concerned with the lagging departments, which include the Departments of Education and Health in the steady progress of provincial audit outcomes as they once again received qualified audit opinions.
"A particular focus is being placed in these two departments with support from the Provincial Treasury and the Office of the Premier," he said.
The Premier said the five departments that received clean audit opions were Community Safety, Finance, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs & Tourism and Rural Development & Agrarian Reform.
He noted that seven departments including Public Works & Infrastructure, Social Development, Sports, Recreation, Arts & Culture, Human Settlements as well as the Office of the Premier, received unqualified audit opinions with findings with the "latter regressing from a clean audit in the 2022/23 financial year".
Mabuyane also highlighted a "noticeable improvement" in the audit outcomes of public entities with eight receiving clean audits.
These were the Coega SEZ and the EL IDZ, the Gambling and Betting Board, the EC Parks and Tourism Agency, EC Liquor Board, the EC Socio Economic Consultative Council, the EC Provincial Arts and Culture and Government fleet management services.
“The Eastern Cape Provincial Government remains transparent and accountable to the people and assures all stakeholders that every necessary measure will be taken to continue to improve audit outcomes in the coming years,” Mabuyane said.
