WCED Circular:

1.	This circular must be read in conjunction with Circular 0164/2002 of 20 December 2002 and Circular Minute DLS/0005/2002 of 18 April 2002.

In terms of section 38(1)(d) of the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA), 1999 (Act 1 of 1999), every manager must have a system in place for the control and safe-keeping of assets. The Head of Department must, on the other hand, have a register of assets which, amongst others, indicate the exact location of such assets. A full record must be kept of all A-class accountable items (e.g. tables, chairs, computers, photocopiers, fax machines and other labour-saving devices) that are in the possession of the WCED.

3.	After the recent stocktaking, inventories of all items (furniture and equipment) within your responsibility were signed by you and placed behind the door of each location for which you are responsible. This means that the items must be there when the Auditor-General audits the asset register.

4.	In Circulars 0028/2005 of 23 May 2005 and 0041/2005 of 17 August 2005, you were requested not to transfer any asset register items between offices without notifying the Supply Chain of such movements. A movement form must be completed for this purpose.

During the stocktaking of 2006/07 and the submission of the asset register for auditing, it was noticed that responsibility managers had often not complied with the measures stipulated in the above-mentioned circular, as inventory items had been moved without the submission of the movement forms. This resulted in unnecessary audit queries.

6.	All responsibility managers are again requested to adhere to the following:

6.1	No item may be moved from a location, unless the movement form, attached to Circular 28/2005, has been completed and approved.

6.2	Any item which is stolen or lost must, in terms of the loss control procedure, be immediately reported to the Departmental loss control officer, as well as the asset management unit, so that the asset register can be updated.

6.3	The asset management unit must also be kept informed of all purchases, gifts and transfers so as to ensure that the inventories are continually updated.

6.4

Should any newly purchased equipment be delivered directly to your office by a supplier, for example, computers (desktop or laptop) or furniture, this must immediately be reported to the asset management section, who will arrange for the marking and bar coding of the items and the updating of the asset register. With regard to desktop computers, you must indicate who the user will be, the computer's precise location and the relevant serial number. It is incumbent on you to arrange with the Centre for e-Innovation for the installation of computers. If an existing computer is replaced, the details of the replaced computer must be provided and the disposal thereof requested, using a Log 1 requisition form. All this information is required in order to update the asset register.

6.5	Should a bar code label of any item become detached or lost, it must be immediately reported to the asset management unit, who will re-attach or replace the label.

Responsibility managers are also required to appoint an official (one for each directorate or EMDC) whose job description must include the tasks of an asset controller for the particular directorate or office. (A job description for an inventory controller is attached for your use). Every responsibility manager has been requested to send the name of the person so appointed to Mr DT Scholtz at the following address by 26 July 2007:

Room 609 6th Floor
Grand Central Towers
Cape Town

Only some managers responded and you are now requested to submit the names of the appointees on or before 17 August 2007. These persons will receive written notification of their appointments from the Chief Financial Officer and will be required to attend a training session.

Should the aforementioned prescripts not be followed, action will be taken in terms of section 51 (1) (e) (i) and (ii) of the PFMA which reads as follows:

"An accounting authority for a public entity must take effective and appropriate disciplinary steps against any employee of the public entity who

(i)	contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of this Act;

(ii)	commits an act which undermines the financial management and internal control system of the public entity."

9.	It is trusted that the instructions contained in this circular will be adhered to at all times so that it will not be necessary to take disciplinary steps against any officials.

10.	Enquiries regarding the content of this circular may be directed to the following persons: Mr D Scholtz tel. 021 467 2799 Mr D Jacobs tel. 021 467 2012

11.	Responsibility managers are requested to inform all personnel of the content of this circular.

SIGNED: L.J. ELY
HEAD: EDUCATION
DATE: 2007:08:13