Departments and state-owned entities fail to submit financials on time

30 September 2016 - 10:22 By Babalo Ndenze

While the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported a R411-million loss‚ it managed to submit its financials to Parliament just in time‚ unlike several departments and state entities‚ like SA Express‚ which missed the deadline. Through Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown‚ the regional airline said it would miss Friday’s deadline.The cut-off for submissions is noon‚ as Parliament’s paper stores department‚ which receives all reports and documents submitted‚ offered to work extra hours to meet the last-minute rush.Brown wrote to speaker Baleka Mbete explaining the reasons for the delay in the tabling of the annual report of the SA Express Airways.“In terms of the Companies Act No 71 of 2008‚ SA Express is required to demonstrate its ability to continue operating on a going concern basis for a period of at least 12 months after the signing of the annual financial statements by satisfying the solvency and liquidity test set out in section 4 of the Companies Act‚” she wrote.“SA Express has yet to satisfactorily demonstrate such ability to the Auditor-General. As a result the audit cannot be completed in order to finalise the 2015/16 annual financial statements.”Embattled South African Airways‚ however‚ managed to submit it “preliminary” financial statements about two weeks before the deadline.The airline made a R4.67-billion loss in 2014/15‚ according to its financial statements.“As with previous years‚ SAA remains undercapitalised. Three consecutive years of operating losses have further eroded the capital base and this continues to impact on the ability of the business to operate in a highly demanding and competitive environment‚” read its annual report.Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa also wrote a similar letter to Mbete‚ explaining her department’s inability to submit on time.“The process of finalising the Auditor-General (AG)’s audit of the 2015/16 financial statements of the Department of Environmental Affairs has taken an unusually extended amount of time to complete as the department and the AG are having a different interpretation with regard to the application of Modified Cash Standard (published by Office of the Accountant General in 2013) as they relate to transfer payment for the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects‚” wrote Molewa.Molewa said she was dealing with this issue with the AG as a “matter of priority”‚ and the submission of the annual report‚ audited financial statement and the AG report will be complied with not later than December 31. – TMG Digital/Parliamentary Bureau..

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