Scopa questions Edu Dept irregularities amounting to at least R2,2 billion
Education MEC Polly Boshielo and Head of Department (HOD), Beauty Mutheiwana were in the hot seat on Tuesday when they appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) at the Parliamentary village to account for irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to at least R2,2 billion incurred by the department in the previous three …
Education MEC Polly Boshielo and Head of Department (HOD), Beauty Mutheiwana were in the hot seat on Tuesday when they appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) at the Parliamentary village to account for irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to at least R2,2 billion incurred by the department in the previous three financial years.
This was the first Scopa hearing of the sixth administration. From the onset the Scopa members were displeased with the manner used by the department to respond to questions. Boshielo was grilled by committee member Makoma Makhurupetje for constantly delegating Mutheiwana to respond to the questions. She remarked that Boshielo has had four months in office and stressed that she should have taken time to familiarise herself with some of the issues.
It was later learnt that the meeting was postponed to a later date as the committee felt that the answers provided were inadequate.
At the time of going to print, Scopa Chairperson Goodman Mitileni could not be reached on his cell phone for comment. However, committee member Jacques Smalle indicated that they had to send the department back because the answers were not efficient enough and were also not highlighting the types of irregularities and wasteful expenditure incurred. He further said a lack of accountability at the department was their major concern.
“The inability by the department to hold officials accountable is a concern. We got halfway through the meeting and had to send them back to rectify their answers. They will appear again in due course. We are worried that the department incurred irregular expenditure amounting to about R2,2 billion since the 2016/17 financial year,” Smalle explained.
In their written response, the department emphasised that they incurred irregular expenditure as a result of non-compliance with supply chain management legislation by the infrastructure implementing agents.
Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
