R134m to be accounted for by Sport, Arts and Culture
The department was described by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) as the worst performing department in terms of finances, lack of systems and tender irregularity in the province recently.
POLOKWANE – Regular changes in the department’s top leadership was given as one of the main reasons for the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s more than R134 million irregular expenditure in the 2016/17 financial year.
The HOD, Mortimer Mannya, ascribed these gaps in the systems to the department needing to have people acting in top leadership positions, having three HODs and three CFOs in one year.
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Mannya himself was appointed in June last year.
He said there were several factors which contribute to the department’s poor performance, adding corrective action has to be taken by people outside the department as around half of the department’s senior management are affected and cannot institute disciplinary action against other transgressors.
Top officials such as former CFOs and acting HODs are implicated in cases of irregularities.
Mannya said there are a number of measures, within budgetary limits, he intends to take to rectify matters, but added it has to be kept in mind it is a small department with limited capacity so they cannot, for instance, employ people in the supply chain.
“We must review delivery practices and fill key positions.
“We have also lost key personnel in the last three months,” he said.
Mannya said he requested partnerships where there are not sufficient resources, for example in the library systems and asset management, but Treasury could not assist and no resources were obtained. He added he also engaged the Hawks and Special Investigations Unit in investigations and was in the process of compiling information.
Many documents got lost or cannot be traced, however, and files have to be reconstructed.
The matter of several irregular appointments within the department are also now taken to court to get the appointments nullified. Former investigated cases where sanctions that were too light were imposed, are also to be taken upon review, case by case.
He mentioned a case whereby a company was appointed verbally to manage an event, and a former accounting officer has given consent to exceed the budget.
The company has now take the department to court for an amount exceeding R2 million.
Mannya explained to Scopa it would take time to finalise the investigations as it would need resources such as capacity.
