Barry Streek
After shock findings of widespread financial mismanagement and lack of controls, the Office of the Auditor General refused to approve a financial audit of the statements for the now- defunct Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) for the 1999/2000 financial year.
Because of the significance of these findings, “I do not express an opinion of the financial statements,” said RK Nayager, who signed on behalf of Auditor General Shauket Fakie, in a report on the IBA’s financial statements that has been tabled in Parliament.
The IBA was dissolved on July 1 last year and merged with the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to become the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. Throughout its existence, the IBA, which was formed in 1993, was mired in controversy over its finances, including unauthorised payments of expenses to its councillors.
Nayager found that during the 1999/2000 financial year the IBA had been
debited with R78058 without approval or supporting documents, and that licence fees disclosed as R13,8-million could not be verified for accuracy because “private radio stations had done their own calculations for licence fees. The calculations had not been verified by the IBA.”
Licence fees for two other radio stations, amounting to R652 115, could not be verified as supporting documentation could not be presented, while the annual licence fees for four more private radio stations had not been raised during the year.
No receipts could be found for the previous year’s balance for four private radio stations, amounting to R1,2-million, and supporting documentation could not be presented for tax invoices totalling R226 845.
Nayager also said Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel had not approved the remuneration packages for IBA councillors as required by law.
“Radio and television stations had not submitted their audited financial statements timeously to the IBA as a result of which private radio stations had not been invoiced timeously or were not invoiced at all. There were unknown deposits from the private radio stations that were not timeously identified.”