NELSPRUIT – The finances of the department of health remains of concern to the premier’s office. Mr David Mabuza said last week after a meeting with the Auditor General (AG) Mr Terence Nombembe that he remains troubled by the financial situation of the departments of health, agriculture, rural development and land affairs.
In June, the premier’s office announced that it would become more involved in the finances of the Department of Health, which forfeited R105 million of last year’s budget due to underspending in the 2012/13 financial year. Mr Madala Masuku, MEC for finance, said the premier’s budget and finance committee would monitor the department’s spending on a monthly basis while the treasury would ensure the money was spent correctly.
In July, the committee was expected to meet to scrutinise the health department’s performance during May. However, this week, it failed to provide feedback on whether the committee was satisfied with the department’s expenditure.
According to Mr Letshela Jonas, spokesman for the department of finance, the budget and finance committee meets frequently. “I can assure you that the matter has been raised or is on the agenda for the committee,” he said. He pointed out that the appointment of Mr VS Makhubedu as deputy director general of financial management at the department was part of
the intervention into the department’s finances.
Jonas said that all departments were required to table their audited annual reports to parliament by the end of the month. “These will indicate whether they’ve spent their budgets and why they may have underspent,” he said. Lowvelder recently reported that parts of a revitalisation project currently underway at Rob Ferreira Hospital had ceased, leaving the uncompleted constructions unusable, while the department of health, which was funding the project, will forfeit R105,9 due to its not-commitment of funds during the past financial year.
Jonas could not confirm whether the department had received confirmation about whether the money will be forfeited, after health MEC Ms Candith Mashego-Dlamini, wrote a letter to the minister of finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan, in mitigation of the funds. The budget and finance committee is expected to meet again next week on June’s expenditure.
