1. General Report on Audit Outcomes 2003-04
Presentation by the Auditor-General to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts August 2004

2. General Report on Audit Outcomes
Report Based on the Audit Findings from the National and Provincial Departments and National Public Entities
Audits are conducted in line with South African Auditing Standards and are subject to external quality assurance processes

3. National Departments Review
Audits of 33 of the 34 Votes finalised by 31 July Department of Foreign Affairs resubmitted Annual Financial Statements on 29 July 2004.
10 Departments (30%) out of the 33 audit reports issued, received qualified audit opinions (2002/ Departments (24%)).

4. National Departments Review
4 Major areas were identified which resulted in qualifications:
Limitation of scope (Lack of audit evidence)
Donor funding
DORA
Prior year balances

5. National Departments Review
Limitation of scope - 2 areas resulted in a limitation of scope:
Income statement and balance sheet (7 departments - 18 qualification paragraphs)
Disclosure notes (5 departments - 6 qualification paragraphs)

6. National Departments Review
Lack of policies to ensure completeness of donor funds (Parliament)
DORA - Fundamental deficiencies on transfer payments (Health)
Unresolved matters on prior year balances (DPW)

7. National Departments Review - Emphasis of Matter (EOM)
Transfer payments
Internal control problems remains a problem and in fact particular attention needs to be drawn to asset management
Reliance on Internal Audit still not satisfactory
Audit committees

8. National Departments Review - Emphasis of Matter (EOM)
Non-compliance with legislation
IS Audits revealed significant shortcomings
Report on SCOPA resolutions

9. Future Focus Financial Management Other issues
Looking at linking findings to root causes as part of initiative to improve financial management and background
Framework for departmental policies and procedures
Continuous improvement and refinement
Other issues
Follow up on SCOPA resolutions to be rolled out throughout audits
Report on Focus Areas to broaden “audit scope”

10. Focus areas
Areas included in audit scrutiny that do not necessary reflect clearly when auditing financial statements. Examples include:
Human Resource Management
Procurement
Additional focus areas will be considered during forthcoming senior management workshop

11. Specialised Audits
Auditor-General mandates includes non regular reporting on performance aspects and special investigations. These areas currently include:
Management of sick leave
Housing
Objective is to increase these types of reports

12. Consolidated financial statements
First time implementation
Basis of consolidation - cash and accrual
30 June deadline to submit CFS
Current status
Communication

13. Proposed Oversight and Audit Cycle
31 August - First briefing on audit outcomes for national departments
September - prioritisation of reports; adoption of programme for hearings
October & November - SCOPA hold priority hearings (Feb to July - further hearings)
Priority resolutions available by end November
Interim audits from November