Finance News South Africa

Municipalities to look at the road to financial competence

The handling of municipal finance will come under scrutiny when over 1 500 municipal finance officials, among them mayors, councillors, managers, financial officers and academics meet for three days at the Institute of Municipal Finance Officers' (IMFO) annual conference with the theme, The Road to Financial Competence.

The gathering is one of the key highlights in the local government calendar and offers an important platform for those in the sector especially if they handle municipal finances to share best practices and to jointly look at ways to improve the way municipal finances are managed.

IMFO has partnered with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) to host the conference at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Gauteng from 8 to 10 October 2012.

Shaping the finance sector

"IMFO has not only remained a relevant authoritative voice for over eight decades, but has also played a vital role in influencing and shaping developments in the municipal finance sector," says EMM's acting chief financial officer Annette van Schalkwyk.

Ekurhuleni executive mayor, Mondli Gungubele will welcome the IMFO delegates on the first day, while city manager Khaya Ngema will contribute a presentation on the topic A Mastery of Financial Competence. On Tuesday, 9 October Neil Diamond, chairperson of the Oversight Committee on Finance will share with the delegates The Role of the MMC in ensuring a Clean Audit, whereafter IMFO CEO, Patrick Roy Mnisi will hand out Clean Audit Awards to the most deserving municipalities.

The IMFO conference takes place just over two months after the auditor-general Terrence Nombembe released the 2010/11 consolidated report of the finances of municipalities which indicated that only 5% of municipalities obtained clean audits.

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