Forty municipalities (14%) and 18 municipal entities (32%) achieved clean audits for the 2013/14 financial year. The total of 58 is an improvement on last year’s result of 30 (9%)‚ according to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs consolidated report on audit outcomes released by the Auditor-General today.A clean audit is defined as “those receiving a financially unqualified opinion with no findings on predetermined objectives and legislative compliance”‚ the Department of Cooperative Governance said in a statementOverall‚ of the 335 municipalities and municipal entities audited: 102 improved‚ 194 remained constant‚ 27 regressed‚ two were new and 10 were still outstanding.The department said 198 (58%) of all 335 municipalities and municipal entities received unqualified audit opinions for their financial statements. This is up from 165 (49%) last year.Auditees with financially unqualified opinions now account for 76% of the total local government expenditure budget of R315 billion‚ the department said. “This means that almost eight out of every ten rands spent by local government is spent by entities with financially unqualified statements.”Auditees with qualification on irregular expenditure decreased from 100 to 74. “However‚ the quantum of irregular expenditure of R11‚4 billion remains unacceptably high‚” the department noted.The biggest contributors to the number of unqualified opinions with no findings on predetermined objectives and legislative compliance are Gauteng (13‚ or 39% of their auditees)‚ KwaZulu-Natal (20‚ or 28% of their auditees) and the Western Cape (18‚ or 55% of their auditees).Limpopo received a special mention. For 2012/13 only one of its 32 auditees received an unqualified audit. The others received qualified (19)‚ adverse (3) and disclaimed (9) audits. This has improved to 15 unqualified audits for 2013/4.The main reason for disclaimed opinions was inadequate or missing supporting documentation‚ the department said.“This is caused by failure to strengthen internal controls and the lack of skilled officials. Over-reliance on consultants also remains a concern. This is unacceptable; we are asking the MEC’s to oversee that councils institute disciplinary action against negligent and underperforming officials.“If need be‚ we will refer some municipalities to the relevant political parties to consider a change in the leadership of these municipalities if there is no immediate improvement.”The department also encouraged the Auditor General’s office to strengthen their audit focus on fraud and corruption risk within supply chain management. “We must deal firmly with those few individuals with insatiable greed‚ who steal at the expense of the people.”..