Ill-prepared Health Ministry irks PAC, sitting cut short
LOBAMBA – It was a rough start for the first sitting of the 12th Parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday.
Members of Parliament (MPs) felt undermined after the Ministry of Health showed up without crucial reports and brought wrongly addressed documents.
The day had to be cut short because the documents, which included reports of recommendations that were made during the previous sittings of the PAC, that were supposed to be the subject of discussions yesterday, had not been submitted by the ministry.
These included recommendations of the previous two financial years’ responses to the Auditor General’s (AG) Report on government consolidated accounts, as well as responses to their compliance reports and the requisition of drugs. The PAC last sat in 2022. It did not sit last year because of the general elections.
In this year’s sitting, the PAC, which is led by the Deputy Speaker, who is also Mhlangatane MP, Madala Mhlanga, is expected to cover two financial years’ audit reports. These are the 2021/2022 as well as the 2022/2023 financial reports.
The Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, Khanyakwezwe Mabuza, started by explaining some of the challenges they encountered while preparing the documents that were supposed to be used during their first appearance before the PAC, which safeguards the public purse.
The PS explained the challenges immediately after the Chairperson of the PAC, Mhlanga, had mentioned the documents that were supposed to be in front of them.
He told the controlling officer that he should have responses for all the five reports he had mentioned. “I am supposed to have the responses to all the reports that I have mentioned as well as the other members of the committee, so that as you make your presentations, we also refer to them. Over to you controlling officer,” he said to Mabuza.
Mabuza told the PAC that the ministry had tried its level best to ensure that they meaningfully and honestly respond to the findings of the AG’s Report.
Difficult
He stated that it was difficult for him that, in his first appearance before the PAC, he started with apologies. The PS cited that he feared bringing reports that were half done or not a true reflection of what happened on the ground, especially because all presentations he would be making before the PAC would be made under oath.
Mabuza noted that the team of senior officials he had brought with him was relatively new. He noted that most of them came into their positions mid to late last year.
Since the PAC 2024 sittings required that they also bring previous PAC recommendations of 2021 and 2022, Mabuza said it was challenging for them to get those reports because they could not find them anywhere in the ministry.
“I would like to apologise as the financial controller has only two months in office and 80 per cent of us here. In our pursuit to get these reports, including the Compliance Report and the Auditor General’s Report for the 2021/22 financial year, we have failed to respond. We are not giving up on the matter of the responses that were made during the last sitting of the PAC,” he said.
Mabuza said they had requested, in writing, through the office of the Clerk to Parliament to bring the responses of the Compliance Audit Report for 2022, since they were failing to get that document in Parliament, at a later date.
He said they had the 2023 responses with them and requested that yesterday’s discussions be based on those.
Before the PAC members responded, Auditor General Timothy Matsebula told the PS and his officials that the PAC discussed two reports. The reports in question included the PAC report on financial audit for 2020/2021 and the PAC Report on Compliance Audit for 2020/2021. He told them that he had not issued the Compliance Report for 2021/2022. “We have two PAC