---
title: "Fact-Check — Did the EFF’s Ekurhuleni finance head achieve a clean audit?"
description: "In the City of Ekurhuleni, the finance department is headed by an EFF councillor. The party now claims that under their watch the city received a clean audit."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "WATCH THE VIDEO"
author: "Rebecca Davis"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/rebeccadavis-2-2/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-22-fact-check-eff-ekurhuleni-finance-head-clean-audit/"
published: "2024-03-22T14:39:02"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 361
---

# Fact-Check — Did the EFF’s Ekurhuleni finance head achieve a clean audit?

> In the City of Ekurhuleni, the finance department is headed by an EFF councillor. The party now claims that under their watch the city received a clean audit.

By Rebecca Davis · Published 22 March 2024, 16:39 SAST

## Key points
- The EFF in Ekurhuleni claimed a victory for clean governance after the city received an unqualified audit opinion, but the Auditor-General's findings of R516-million in irregular expenditure and R81-million in fruitless expenditure tell a different story.
- City of Ekurhuleni's finance department led by EFF councillor Nkululeko Dunga
- EFF claims "clean audit" victory, but Auditor-General's report tells a different story
- Ekurhuleni received unqualified audit opinion with adverse findings
- Significant irregular and fruitless expenditure uncovered, a downgrade from previous year's audit results

## Content

\[embed\]https://youtu.be/J1y8IezXRFY?si=7glQTOJGxkM-nCae\[/embed\]

The finance department of the[City of Ekurhuleni](https://www.ekurhuleni.gov.za/) is led by an EFF councillor,[Nkululeko Dunga](https://twitter.com/DungaLeko?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor). When the city tabled its [2022/23 Auditor-General report](https://www.ekurhuleni.gov.za/about-the-city/annual-reports/) in mid-March, the EFF was quick to claim[a victory](https://twitter.com/EFFGautengProv/status/1767627465009078555/photo/1) for clean governance.

But is that really what the Auditor-General reported?

In the wake of the tabling of the latest Ekurhuleni audit outcomes, the EFF in Gauteng[released a statement](https://twitter.com/EFFGautengProv/status/1767627465009078555) lauding the result as a victory for its finance head — saying that it indicated “clean and sound financial management and reporting practices”.

The EFF’s Gauteng branch retweeted a tweet claiming that Ekurhuleni had received “a clean audit” from the Auditor-General.

In addition, an[editorial in the *Sowetan*](https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2024-03-18-sowetan-eff-must-own-up-toits-flaws/) reported that EFF MPs “claimed that under their watch the city received a clean audit”.

But the term “a clean audit” has a very specific meaning in the context of the Auditor-General.

According to the[Auditor-General’s website](https://www.agsa.co.za/AuditInformation/AuditTerminology.aspx#:~:text=We%20can%20express%20one%20of,or%20non%2Dcompliance%20with%20legislation.), the term means:

“The financial statements are free from material misstatements (in other words, a financially unqualified audit opinion) and there are no material findings on reporting on performance objectives or non-compliance with legislation”.

This was not the outcome that the Ekurhuleni finance department actually received under the EFF’s watch.

Ekurhuleni received an unqualified audit opinion, which means:

“The financial statements contain no material misstatements. Unless we express a clean audit outcome, findings have been raised on either reporting on predetermined objectives or non-compliance with legislation, or both these aspects”.

In other words, there were adverse findings.

These were fairly significant: the Auditor-General found a total of R516-million in irregular expenditure, for instance, and R81-million worth of fruitless expenditure.

It is still a better outcome than for most South African municipalities. But it was also a[downgrade from the previous year’s audit outcomes](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-13-ekurhuleni-loses-clean-audit-status-after-attempt-to-oust-mayor-stalls-again/), which saw Ekurhuleni be named as the only metro in the country other than Cape Town to receive a clean audit.

As such, the EFF’s repeated use of the word “clean” to describe the audit result is factually misleading — given both the specific meaning of “clean” in this context, and the details of the Auditor-General’s actual findings. **DM**

[Media on Daily Maverick: "SA proverbs"](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-03-22-fact-check-eff-ekurhuleni-finance-head-clean-audit/)