Rustenburg: The Rustenburg Local Municipality, has with effect from the 1st July 2017, achieved a huge Milestone by being amongst the municipalities that can boast to having successfully implemented a new classification framework known as the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA) in compliance with the Government Gazette 37577 issued on 22nd April 2014 and which is expected to have numerous benefits at both a macro and a micro level.
The implementation of mSCOA goes beyond a simple information technology project and is rather a business transformation project that will fundamentally transform how the municipality conducts all its operations. A mSCOA compliant implementation will:
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Have an IDP and projects budget, compiled in mSCOA segments resulting in few virement adjustments;
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Enable a Trial Balance to be drawn in each of the applicable segments;
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Enable daily transactions to be captured in the correct accounts and the municipality to perform its daily operations;
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Have a portal function for input into national data warehouse.
Some of the key benefits to be drawn from mSCOA is to standardise all municipal-and-the whole of government reporting, bring officials in the municipality together on topical matters, guides minimum leading processes in a municipality through the use of multiple segments (therefore reforms the business of the municipality and not just its finances or IT), creates stability and consistency across all municipalities by providing a defined structure in the standard set of accounts.
The benefits to the residents are enormous, namely; the system eliminates repetitive processes and greatly reduces the need for manual entry of information. It streamlines business processes and makes it easier and more efficient for the municipality to collect data and hence efficiency.
All information is located in a central and single location. Data is kept consistent and up to date. This leads to better decision making and integrated information and reporting.
Residents can expect better customer service which will be experienced improved interaction with customers through faster, more accurate access to customer information and history. Most importantly, the system will help the municipality to accomplish clean audit, as it brings a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes.
Overall the key objective is to ensure TRANSPARENCY in the operations of the municipality.
This milestone is another commitment from the Rustenburg Local Municipality, as lead by Executive Mayor, Cllr. Mpho Khunou, MMcs and the Municipal Manager and her team. The municipality has certainly started the 2017/2018 financial year on a positive note and this commitment is one that will be carried out throughout the year on the road to Clean Administration. Special acknowledgement to the Budget and Treasury Office of Rustenburg Local Municpality for the efforts, planning and dedication shown throughout this project.
Rustenburg Local Municipality, through action, wants to again reaffirm its commitment to all residents of making Rustenburg a “World Class City where all Communities enjoy a High Quality of Life.”
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