The Makhado Municipality can once again not find or verify some of their assets.

An inventory count for the financial year ending June 30 this year found that there were stock items on the valuation report, amounting to just over R4 million, that could not be physically verified.

At a special Council meeting on September 16, Council resolved that those items be written off. At the same meeting, the Democratic Alliance voted against the writing off of inventory items that could not be verified.

“We strongly oppose the writing off of stock items to the amount of R 4, 212,528.92. The inventory items could once again not be physically verified. Where are the items? Nobody takes responsibility for finding them,” DA Cllr Brian du Plooy said this week.

According to the Makhado Municipality, the amount is accumulative from an incorrect adjustment dating back to the 2006 financial year, with a further shortage of R1,362,046.73 during a physical inventory counting. Additionally, another R1,037,451.23 was recommended for being written off.

“It is the Democratic Alliance´s opinion that there has been no accountability on the part of the Makhado Municipality and that this amounts to nothing more than gross negligence and incompetence at the expense of ratepayers,” said DA Cllr Annette Kennealy on September 21.

In this year´s report of the auditor-general (AG), which covered the financial year ended June 30, 2009, the AG stated that “assets amounting to R7.6million were removed from the asset register, due to management not being able to trace these assets from the asset register to the physical assets” . That was under the heading Property, Plant and Equipment. At the time, the SPRA commented on the unexplained loss of assets. “Management doesn’t know where the assets are; they are lost. How is it possible to lose 29 pages full of assets? Among them are 68 vehicles, 24 New Holland Tractors, other tractors and trucks, graders, an ambulance, weedeaters, laptops, steel tables, to name but a few. Management was not able to trace these assets that were removed from the asset register. How can large vehicles just disappear?” Mr Frans Prinsloo, chairperson of the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association, said in August.

Kennealy referred to the same report where the AG issued a disclaimer with regard to the Makhado Municipality’s financial statements. Following the special Council meeting, Kenneally quoted the AG where he said that the Makhado Municipality was non-compliant with regulatory requirements and that there was a lack of adoption of performance management systems. The report also referred to management´s inadequate monitoring and supervision over financial reporting and of financial statements.

“The Democratic Alliance feels that the state of financial affairs in the Makhado Municipality continues to deteriorate, with no accountability or concern for consequences. A restructuring, good governance and the appointment of competent and responsible people would be a step in the right direction,” Kennealy said.