AG report indicates irregular expenditure
The AG report shows Limpopo had 14 auditees (74%) that reported material non-compliance findings.
BURGERSFORT – The DA in Limpopo called on Premier Stan Mathabatha to implement the Auditor-General’s
recommendations and hold officials in underperforming departments and entities accountable.
This comes after the release of the Auditor-General’s (AG) Public Finance Management Act audit outcomes 2020/21 report that showed large amounts of irregular expenditure and non-compliance to
laws and regulations.
The report shows that the Provincial Legislature, Limpopo Economic Development Agency, Limpopo Department
of Health and the Gateway Airport Authority Limited have all regressed in terms of their audit opinion outcomes.
“The province’s irregular expenditure continues to be excessive and there are no signs of containment. Limpopo’s irregular expenditure of R3.4bn is as a result of the failure to use conditional grants for their intended use (R1.73bn) and widespread noncompliance with supply chain management legislation (R1.67bn).
“This is caused by a blatant disregard for legislation and officials not being held accountable for their transgressions,” said DA’s Risham Maharaj.
He said the Limpopo government continues to incur too much irregular expenditure. According to Maharaj, this threatens to impact the services offered to residents of Limpopo.
The Department of Public Works andvInfrastructure incurred R1.594bn, Roads Agency Limpopo accumulated R734m, cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional Affairs (Coghsta) incurred R403.8m and the education department incurred R468m in irregular expenditure.
The AG report shows Limpopo had 14 auditees (74%) that reported material non-compliance findings.
“This highlights the failure to comply with laws and regulations. The province’s health department also had
unpaid claims at year-end that exceeded their entire operational budget for the next year. It is encouraging to see
the Provincial Treasury, the Limpopo Gambling Board, the Department of Economic Development, Environment
and Tourism, the Office of the Premier and the Department of Transport and Community Safety receive unqualified audit opinions with no findings.
“It highlights the fact that a lack of leadership, poor internal controls and a lack of consequence management are
at the heart of the underperformance of other departments.” Maharaj said Mathabatha must hold his MECs accountable for their respective department’s performances in line with the service agreements they signed.
