There is a pressing need for effective monitoring of
internal control systems to ensure that municipalities improve and
sustain audit outcomes. In this context, there is the need for the
management of municipalities to monitor the performance and
maintenance of the adequate systems of internal controls
available. The objective of this study is to examine the moderating
role of information technology (IT) system governance in internal
control on the achievement of clean audit outcome. The paper
applied a quantitative approach with the aid of simple regression
analysis. Data analysis was conducted in two phases; the first
phase without IT governance and the second phase introduced the
IT governance. Results from the analysis showed that the first
phase without the IT system governance was insignificantly
related to clean audit outcome; but the second phase with the IT
system governance showed a p-value of less than 0.01 which
shows that the moderating role of IT governance improved the
model to be significantly related to clean audit outcome. The
practical implication is that the effectiveness of municipal internal
control toward an improved audit outcome can be enhanced
significantly if information technology system governance is
installed and managed efficiently in local municipalities. Future
researcher on municipal internal, provincial or national control
should include the IT system governance in their research model.