CITY OF EKURHULENI EFFECTIVE POLITICAL OVERSIGHT ROLE ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Views expressed by Cllr Jongizizwe Dlabathi (Chief Whip of Council) CIGFARO ANNUAL CONFERENCE DATE: 09 OCTOBER 2018 Emperors Palace

INTRODUCTION 1. The broad objective of public financial management has to do with: Financial prudence and discipline; Resource allocation to fundamental needs, in order to; Ensure efficient and effective service delivery provision 2. Therefore planning, controlling, organizing and directing and decision making constitute key components of financial management. 3. These components are important in the context of ensuring that a good system of public financial management result into amongst others Good governances practices Institutional stability and Effective use of financial resources and drawing of value for money

KEY OBJECTIVE OF MUNICIPAL FINANCE MANAGEMENT 4. As per the Act, Financial Management is about: Modernisation of financial management Planning and budgeting Revenue and expenditure management Reporting and; Oversight: which seeks to ensure accurate, reliable and strengthened decision making processes on matters of Financial Management

EFFECTIVE POLITICAL OVERSIGHT ROLE ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 5. Requires one to understand that which is intended: That it is about financial accountability That it is about certainty on the financial viability That it is about ascertaining that financial resources are used for the right purpose It is about detecting, where possible, indicators of financial administration and; That it is really about finances that are managed in a manner that assures and maintain public confidence

EFFECTIVE POLITICAL OVERSIGHT ROLE ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 6. Knowledge and basic appreciation of regulation: The composition of oversight structures must consider expertise on subject matter as well as the basic experience Provision of on-going training to oversight capacity 7. Character of effective oversight Promote Good governance It is not about compliance, but usefulness of the reported information It must ensure checks and balances Avoid and/or minimize politics and being partisan about accountability and transparency It must be pro-active and should not be caught napping

EFFECTIVE POLITICAL OVERSIGHT ROLE ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 8. Therefore: Politicians (Public representatives) are custodians of communities They play a fundamental role in ensuring that government is responsive to their needs. This then means that, the structure of government must be in a way that in the end, the aspirations of the communities are progressively realised. These aspirations requires amongst others financial resources If we lose sight of effective management of these resources, community aspirations may not be realised as anticipated.

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