If not corruption, then what is it?
SA’s wasted billions still shock the state’s audit sleuth
Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu says officials are quick to evade consequences by claiming that billions misspent do not necessarily constitute corruption.
In his seven years as auditor-general — his term ends in November — Makwetu’s office has identified R65bn of irregular municipal spending.
“They are very quick to know that it is not corruption. But then, what is it? If they know what it is not, can they please tell us what it is? We want to know the identity of this particular expenditure,” he said.
His report highlights the highs and lows of municipal finances. To his chagrin, Bergville and Brits are separated by much more than 440km. Bergville, the seat of Okhahlamba municipality in the Drakensberg, is a poster child for clean local government, earning its fourth consecutive clean audit.
The North West town of Brits, however, is the seat of an administration that Makwetu might have had in mind when he titled his report, “Not much to go around, yet not the right hands at the till”.
● Kimi Makwetu is in his last year as auditor-general and, in his years on the job, his office has identified R65bn in irregular municipal spending that was never dealt with. Yet it is still possible to shock him.
Makwetu’s report this week says the Metsimaholo municipality, based in Sasolburg, Free State, spent R21.7m in 2017/2018 on a sports complex. But auditors could only find a fence.
An investigation by the municipal public accounts committee recommended it be written off as “fruitless” and “wasteful”. No action was taken against officials.
“That was the most daring,” Makwetu told the Sunday Times this week. “Nothing was done ... There has to be action.”
He said the title of his last report on municipal finances in 2018/2019, “Not much to go around, yet not the right hands at the till”, was a heartfelt reflection on what was happening in public institutions.
He said the report would inform even those who don’t read it “that when they go pay their electricity bill, they need to be aware that there are not always the right hands at the till”.
Supermarket tills are protected and there are consequences for cashiers whose tills are short at the end of the day, but this did not happen in the government, he said.
“People do not care. They just come to the till because they know there are not many cameras to see them,” he said.
Wednesday marked 13 years since Makwetu started at the office of the auditor-general as Terence Nombembe’s deputy. He became head in 2013 and his term ends in November.
“This time around it was particularly intimate for me in looking at and analysing the reports and financial statements of various municipalities,” he said.
While the debate over the “nine wasted years” (the Zuma presidency) rages, Makwetu agrees his tenure coincided with the height of the looting. He had to insulate the office from the taint and be more diligent.
He said there was little diligence in observing laws on how money should be spent and little diligence in appointing skilled officials. He blames the politicians for failing in their oversight role, saying many were conflicted, having interests in the very contracts they had to scrutinise.
“In most instances the reason we have the audit outcomes that we have is because when we have conversations with councillors and members of provincial legislatures, the conversation ends at a point where there is a common understanding between us and them about what must happen. But that which is supposed to be done, most of the time never gets done,” he said.
Makwetu said some municipalities would never fix procurement problems because of “too many interfering people”. A common problem in local government outside Gauteng and the Western Cape was to put officials under pressure to award contracts to certain people, he said.
Situations such as the one in Metsimaholo can be prevented if the auditor-general’s new preventative approach — as contained in the Public Audit Act — was properly implemented, he said.
The law empowers the auditor-general’s office to refer material irregularities — defined as any fraud, theft or breach — for investigation and the issuing a certificate of debt to the officials involved.
“We need an intimate conversation with those people that are at the coalface and tell them, ‘The best way for you as an accounting officer to protect yourself from the possibility of getting a certificate of debt is to invest in preventative controls because the more you prevent the big material irregularities, the less the new provisions of the auditor-general are going to apply to you’,” he said.
One figure that rises each year is that of irregular expenditure — defined as spending that did not meet legal requirements. It increased by R7bn to R32bn in 2018/2019. Government officials never fail to point out this doesn’t necessarily mean corruption. Makwetu flashes irritation.
“They are very quick to know that it is not corruption. But then, what is it? If they know what it is not, can they please tell us what it is? We want to know the identity of this particular expenditure,” he said.
“We will know what it is when they pick these cases up and investigate them, because that is what the law says they must do ... None of them have ever done that, but they are very quick to pronounce that it is not corruption.”
Makwetu is looking forward to resting at his home in Cofimvaba and looking after goats for a few months after leaving office.
Thereafter he wants to contribute to creating jobs and rebuilding the economy — but certainly not in the public sector, he said.