DEAR Editor,-
With KwaZulu-Natal finance watchdog Scopa’s follow-up hearings taking place over the next few weeks, the Democratic Alliance has called for so-called ‘audit delinquents’ to be taken to task.
Last year’s initial hearings in October and November served to identify the major areas of financial management concern across all KZN government departments.
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Both the Departments of Health and Transport have a lot to answer for, with repeat audit qualifications going back at least three years.
This begs the question – will the 2018 audit improvement plans be any more effective than those for 2017, 2016, 2015 or previously?
This is especially relevant when one considers that not a single official has been charged in terms of Section 38 of the PFMA, which requires that accounting officers ensure their departments comply with the law and regulations.
The KZN Department of Health in particular has some eye-watering numbers to account for. Irregular expenditure stands at R7.24 billion, with overtime payments that cannot properly be accounted for standing at R946 million.
The department has contingent liability claims of R9.36 billion, which may or may not be an adequate statement of the real position.
It takes a real optimist to believe that this department will suddenly come up with a plan which will produce a clean audit in this financial year.
KZN’s Education Department is another audit delinquent with R822 million in irregular expenditure in 2016/17 and R168 million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Some of the irregular expenditure resulted from the 136 employees who were found to be doing additional paid work without approval.
The current hearings are an opportunity for MECs and their departments to report on what exactly they are doing to address the problems.
In turn, Scopa must demand that MECs prove that they are serious about fighting corruption and ensuring that their officials comply with the law.
MARK STEELE, MPL
DA KZN Spokesperson on Scopa
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