The Citizen (KZN)

Deadline for dept to act on AG’s orders

- Vhahangwel­e Nemakonde

The department of defence and military veterans has until end of March to implement the auditor-general’s (AG) recommenda­tions after purchasing medical equipment it could not use.

This was revealed by AG Tsakani Maluleke in a briefing to the standing committee of the auditor-general on material irregulari­ties in national and provincial government yesterday.

The AG flagged the irregulari­ty in April 2023 after medical equipment was purchased when the department did not have qualified medical staff to operate it.

“If by the end of March, the department has not resolved this material irregulari­ty, we will move on to either referrals or to taking binding remedial action, which is doable only in a court of law,” said Maluleke.

“We always emphasise that we need not get to that point, because by the time we get to a recommenda­tion, there has been ample opportunit­y for the accounting officers and the executives and parliament to be acquainted with the matter and to take the necessary steps in line with their own given powers or authority.”

The AG has previously referred two material irregulari­ties in the department for further investigat­ion. Material irregulari­ty is any noncomplia­nce with, or contravent­ion of legislatio­n, fraud, theft or a breach of a fiduciary duty identified during an audit, that resulted in or is likely to result in a material financial loss, the misuse or loss of a material public resource or substantia­l harm to the general public.

Since 2018, the AG has identified 266 cases of noncomplia­nce and suspected fraud resulting in material financial loss in government. Only R1.29 billion of it has been recovered.

According to the AG, over R500 million is in the process of being prevented as loss, while R700 million is in the process of being recovered. “As important as the protecting of R2.5 billion that has been protected is, because that money goes back into service delivery, the trick to driving better performanc­e and use of public resources is to invest in preventati­ve controls,” said Maluleke.

Although she was optimistic about the recovery of public funds, Maluleke called on authoritie­s, including the president and premiers, parliament and legislatur­es, to address common indicators that lead to irregulari­ties.

These bodies must insist on accounting officers and authoritie­s to address identified irregulari­ties and monitor the progress made in resolving them. “While it’s pleasing to see this level of responsive­ness from internal auditors, our concern is that, in at least 82% of the instances, no action was being taken.”

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