An assessment of clean audit outcomes as an effective determinant of good service delivery : a case study of Midvaal Local Municipality

Abstract

Local government, like many other public-sector organisations in South Africa, get audited by the office of the Auditor-General, to obtain the current state of the municipal financial status and audit opinions for a specific financial year. Clean audits are a standard, which municipalities are required to uphold, but clean audit outcomes have no prospective significance, if they do not yield tangible differences such as good service delivery into the lives of their constituencies. Through the findings of the office of the Auditor-General, it is commonly found that some municipalities achieve clean audits, even though they are overwhelmed by extreme poor performance when it comes to service delivery. Although majority of municipalities faces the crisis of achieving desirable audit outcomes; South Africa has specific utmost success stories of municipalities with clean audits such as Midvaal Local Municipality. The purpose of this study is to assess if clean audit outcomes of Midvaal Local Municipality can be used as effective determinants of good service delivery within the municipality. The study adopted Theory of Change that underpin Management Performance Assessment Framework as the main theoretical framework of the study; complimented by Management Performance Assessment Framework and Tool (MPAT) as the conceptual framework of the study. The study utilised online qualitative survey with open ended questions and literature review as data collection method to investigate the extent in which clean audit outcomes of Midvaal Local Municipality can be used as an effective determinant of good service delivery within the municipality. Central to the purpose and outcome of the study, it was established that clean audit outcomes of Midvaal Local Municipality cannot be used as an effective determinant of good service delivery within the municipality. Moreover, the study established that the Midvaal Local Municipality has effective management practices that place the municipality in good position to delivery services effectively and efficiently. Wherein, this management practices can be used as effective determinants of good service delivery within the municipality; since they yield positive impact on the municipal financial viability, which solely translate to clean audit outcomes.