High staff turnover has crippled the operations of state-owned mining company Alexkor, particularly its finance division, which is making it difficult to produce financial reports.
News24 quoted the office of the Auditor-General of SA (AGSA) as saying to Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that Alexkor's audit for 2020/21 was only concluded in May 2022.
Scopa was also told that the audit for 2020/21 still contained material misstatements on environmental rehabilitation liability, inventories, trade, taxation, and net cash flow from operating and financing activities, among other things.
ACSA said the high turnover of staff also affected the ability to ensure appropriate monitoring of financial reporting.
It recommended the appointment of key positions such as that of chief financial officer (CFO) and the implementation of "disciplined financial reporting structures based on solid accounting and financial management knowledge".
Alexkor also does not have an internal audit capability.
"The controls around the prevention of fruitless and wasteful expenditure should be strengthened as we have noted an increase in these, as well as irregular expenditures," said ACSA.
"The root causes lie in the weakness in the internal controls in financial reporting and monitoring, an inadequate audit action plan, instability in the finance department, as well as instability in governance structures to enable appropriate oversight over the preparation and review of the financial statements."
However, Alexkor is solvent as the unaudited figures for 2022 show a significant increase in revenues.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
News24 quoted the office of the Auditor-General of SA (AGSA) as saying to Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that Alexkor's audit for 2020/21 was only concluded in May 2022.
Scopa was also told that the audit for 2020/21 still contained material misstatements on environmental rehabilitation liability, inventories, trade, taxation, and net cash flow from operating and financing activities, among other things.
ACSA said the high turnover of staff also affected the ability to ensure appropriate monitoring of financial reporting.
It recommended the appointment of key positions such as that of chief financial officer (CFO) and the implementation of "disciplined financial reporting structures based on solid accounting and financial management knowledge".
Alexkor also does not have an internal audit capability.
"The controls around the prevention of fruitless and wasteful expenditure should be strengthened as we have noted an increase in these, as well as irregular expenditures," said ACSA.
"The root causes lie in the weakness in the internal controls in financial reporting and monitoring, an inadequate audit action plan, instability in the finance department, as well as instability in governance structures to enable appropriate oversight over the preparation and review of the financial statements."
However, Alexkor is solvent as the unaudited figures for 2022 show a significant increase in revenues.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
