DA WC welcomes corrected reports from Auditor-General
1 February 2022
Today, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) was briefed by the Auditor-General (AG) with respect to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s reworked financial records, in which clean audits were given for the financial years since 2016/17. This follows the Supreme Court of Appeal’s recent ruling in favour of the Department, after the AG disagreed with the characterisation of transfer payments to Casidra.
It must be emphasised that the corrected audit reports and the court rulings should in no way be seen as bringing the AG’s reputation into disrepute. The AG is, and will always be, a crucial component in ensuring accountability in our public entities and government departments.
However, the audit reports do highlight the excellent financial governance and leadership of the Department, which is why the following was achieved in the previous financial year:
1 101 new green job opportunities through the Department’s LandCare Services sub-programme.
The rehabilitation of 34 352 hectares of agricultural land.
131 partial bursaries to qualifying applicants, which surpassed the initial target by more than five times. The Department also fully achieved its student equity target of 45%, thus ensuring that there is greater diversity in knowledge and skills development.
Through Casidra, an entity under the Department, 45 emerging farms were supported with financial record-keeping.
Supported 5 640 food gardens for households, 132 food gardens for communities and 43 food gardens for schools.
Looking forward into the next financial year, we hope that obstacles – such as the delays in the Clanwilliam Dam project and Cape Town Harbour operations – will be tended to in order for the agricultural sector in the Western Cape to continue to create jobs and assist with the post Covid-19 economic recovery.
Issued by Andricus van der Westhuizen, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, 1 February 2022
