KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala delivers his 2021 State of the Province (SOPA) address in the provincial legislature.
KZN government supply chain management officials will undergo lifestyle audits and the province will employ a “professional, meritocratic and ethical civil service” to safeguard citizens’ interests.
KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala delivers his 2021 State of the Province (SOPA) address in the provincial legislature.
KwaZulu-Natal will be one of the first provinces to subject officials to lifestyle audits as the government seeks to root out corruption and ensure that corrupt government employees are punished.
This was the commitment by KZN Premier Sihle Ziklala during his State of the Province address on Friday.
He said the province had approached the State Security Agency and SARS for assistance with implementing the lifestyle audits.
“We were advised that the State Security is finalising certain protocols in this regard. As the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, we are committed to leading from the front in undertaking the lifestyle audits. We are confident that once processes are concluded, we will be among the first provinces to subject ourselves to this process,” he said.
He said the government was “deeply concerned” about the province’s regression regarding the recent audit cycle of municipalities and departments.
“In response to this unpalatable state of affairs, we have institutionalised ‘Operation Clean Audit’. We have demanded accountability for irregular expenditure in each department and relevant consequence management procedures. Consequence management must be visibly proved,” he said.
He said the province had implemented an Audit Improvement Plan under the supervision of the Provincial Treasury as part of the turn around strategy.
“We have identified constraints that lead to poor audit performance. The 2020/2021 audit process has shown improvement, but we have not yet reached our target and we will continue to ensure accountability and full implementation of audit outcomes,” he said.
Zikala said it was important for the province to employ a “professional, meritocratic and ethical civil service” to safeguard citizens’ interests.
“We have already embarked on a series of initiatives to build state capacity and instil professionalism in the public service,” Zikalala said.
These included: