announcements, tablings and committee reports - Parliament of ...

Tuesday, 29 October 2013] 4845Findings of the Auditor-GeneralThe Castle received an unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General.The A-G found no matters to be reported in terms of the financial healthand human resources of the entity and was largely positive about theimprovements made on previous recommendations. However, the auditopinion identified problems in the following areas:• Internal Audit. No internal audit function for some part of the year.• Supply chain management. The SCM was again identified as aproblem as the CCB did not fully comply with the rules regarding theprocurement of goods and services for entities.• Performance against predetermined objectives. A vast improvementwas noted by the AG, but a need to develop a properly-designedperformance management methodology was noted.• Compliance. The AG suggested the use of a compliance checklistto monitor outstanding responsibilities and approvals.• Retention of a surplus. The CCB did not apply to National Treasuryto accumulate a surplus in previous years but submitted a requestto retain its surplus in 2012/13. The result of this request is not yetcertain and, as such, the AG noted again that the CCB retained asurplus without National Treasury approval.• Leadership. The AG noted concerns in terms of the leadership bythe accounting authority. The accounting authority failed toeffectively communicate policies and procedures to ensure effectiveinternal control.Performance• Highly successful Military Tattoo (4000 spectators).• Jive Slave marathon with 5000 runners through the Castle.• Anglo-Boer War Philatelic Exhibition attracted 3000 visitors.• Annual paying tourist figures increased by 3519.• Month of Photography (October) attracted more than 3000.• Annual trading surplus of R883 000 was achieved.• Heritage Day 2012 (free access) numbers exploded from 1975 to3265.Recommendations• The internal audit function and the appointment of the CFO should besorted out as a matter of urgency.• The position of Het Bakhuys and its contribution to the revenue ofCastle should be prioritised. If the operation of Het Bakhuys istransferred to a private enterprise, this shift should be concluded in aprompt and transparent manner to maintain the image of the Castle asan exemplary tourist destination. The PCODMV should also be updatedin this regard.ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS NO 147─2013