That leaky public purse
IT IS cause for great concern that many billions from the public purse continue to be lost by state-owned enterprises through a mixture of corruption, unauthorised expenditure and bad decision-making.
For instance, on Tuesday, PetroSA had difficulty explaining losses of R14.5 billion it incurred in 2014/15 to Parliament’s portfolio committee on energy.
A failed gas exploration programme, Project Ikhwezi, was responsible for most of the losses, they said.
If losses were this big, they were asked, then why were two executives given golden handshakes, and why were other executives paid “retention bonuses” for their stay with the entity during the duration of the failed project?
The PetroSA delegation answered these questions with some difficulty.
What has been heartening, though, has been the attitude of members of portfolio, and other, committees towards representatives of stateowned enterprises and ministers who have been called on to explain matters such as cost overruns, losses and allegations of corruption.
In recent months, a number of entities and their responsible ministers have been put through the wringer, with the notable examples being the SABC and the Department of Social Development, which has been caught in a furore over the possible non-payment of millions of social grants.
IN FACT, the ad hoc committee that investigated the SABC, with an ANC majority, called on President Jacob Zuma to reconsider the position of Faith Muthambi, the minister responsible for the corporation. There were also widespread calls for the dismissal of Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
The questioning by the SABC ad hoc committee and a range of portfolio committees has been robust, as indeed it should be.
The last time officials faced such intense interrogation was during South Africa’s first democratic administration, when Nelson Mandela was president.
And this was mainly because Mandela openly encouraged Parliament to call his executive to account.
While the thought that billions of rand continue to disappear from the public purse will anger many people, we believe there is a silver lining.
We detect a determination by parliamentarians – perhaps demonstrated too seldom in the recent past – to act in the interests of those who voted for them.
And this must be welcomed.