FRIDAY, 8.30AM:
The Auditor-General’s office is not satisfied with book-balancing procedures followed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, according to a report submitted to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee on Thursday. The IBA wrote off more than R4,86-million when it discovered its fixed assets register did not agree with its accounting records.
The Auditor-General’s office filed the report after an investigation into steps the IBA has taken to tighten financial controls.
“Fixed assets are still a problem and an appropriate solution will have to be negotiated with the IBA,” the report states. Only 70 percent of a sample of the IBA’s assets could be traced. The report also notes that one of the five councillors who resigned after an earlier report from the Auditor-General detailing mismanagement and fraud inside the IBA has repaid money allegedly owed, but does not specify which councillor it was. The earlier report found some councillors had overclaimed on expenses and misused their IBA credit cards for personal expenses.