The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants has developed a programme aimed at capacitating municipal finance officials to enable them to meet minimum competencies. 

It is envisaged that this project will help municipalities achieve clean audits. The project also upskills unemployed graduates, thusassisting them to find employment.

South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)development manager, Natalie Zimmelman, says the institute has undertaken various programmes aimed at addressing the financial skills shortage within municipalities.

“These programmes have previously been aimed at two levels, namely the chief financial officer (CFO) and the financial clerk. However, the SAICA Municipalities Programme aims to address the level between these i.e. that of the financial manager as well as other associated financial management positions, such as supply chainmanager.

The programme is funded by the National Skills Fund of the Department of Higher Education and Training to the tune of R72 million. National Treasury, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and Deloitte Learning Alliance, which conducts training, are all part of the project.

Phase 1 of the projectfocused on the three provinces of Gauteng, North West and KwaZulu-Natal, and enrolled unemployed graduates and employed officials, while Phase 2is being rolled out nationally and includes employed municipal officials as well as National Treasury interns.