In response to a media query regarding the state of the Makhado Municipality’s finances, following a very damning report from the Auditor General, the municipality opted to answer only some of the questions.

On the discrepancy of R20.7million between the operating budget and the adjusted budget regarding operating expenditure, an amount of R10million is ascribed to depreciation. Although this appears to be an acceptable deduction, it does not explain what had happened to the remaining R10.7million or whether this figure is realistic in terms of the municipality’s assets to the value of R770million. The conversion from the IMFO reporting standards to GAMAP (the new national municipality accounting procedure) is also blamed for the discrepancy in totals.

Regarding unidentified deposits, these apparently stem from the fact that customers make deposits without supplying reference numbers, which means the figures cannot be reconciled. Ratepayers are advised to include their reference numbers when making payments, to avoid confusion. No explanation about the lack of documentation for certain expenses has been supplied.

In terms of records of deposits paid for electricity supply, the problem is blamed on the system, which can apparently not supply certain information on individuals on a separate report (?).