DURBAN - THE Royal Household Trust says it has turned the corner in managing the affairs of the Zulu royal household.
The trust recently appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature.
The audit report revealed that the Trust had turned the corner in managing the affairs of the royal household.
But it said it had incurred about R67 000 in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
This was incurred as a result of failing to pay bills to the palaces on time.
“The previous issue we had was the storage of kitchen cupboards that were previously procured, however, not accepted by the royal families.
“Those kitchen cupboards were moved to our storage in Ulundi, so we are not paying for any storage now because we have offices at Ulundi. So we are not going to incur any fruitless in that regard also,” said the chief financial officer of the Trust, Sipho Buthelezi.
No reason was given as to why the royal families did not want the cupboards.
Despite the cupboards issue and other minor matters, the trust recorded a general improvement in their audit outcome, with Buthelezi saying they foresee a clean audit in the near future.
“We had very few audit findings this time, and we're hoping it's a sign that we are very close to a clean audit.”
Members of the committee were also pleased with the entity, saying it was on the right track.
Scopa chair Maggie Govender said: “It is quite pleasing to note the improvement in the audit outcomes of the Royal Household Trust. Clearly, a lot of work has gone in, and we would be pleased if you are able to clear the issues that have been raised to get that clean audit.”
Committee member Sipho Nkosi said the Trust should be commended for the work it has done to improve its audit outcomes.
“I am disappointed that the trust incurred fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R67 000 due to the failure to pay bills for our palaces. We don't want, as KwaZulu-Natal, to hear negativity or negative publicity about our royal palaces and the royal family.”
He said the committee should be briefed on how the Trust will deal with the individuals that were responsible for that expenditure being incurred.
“We want that money back in the provincial revenue fund.”
THE MERCURY