Political parties say AG report shows no improvement
MBOMBELA - The Auditor General of South Africa’s report for 2019/20 has caused sparks within opposition political parties in the province. They allege there is little, if any, accountability regarding the management of provincial funds.
The report contained various issues within the province, including the Mpumalanga Office of the Premier being one of 10 departments that had given poor financial statements every year for the past five years.
The EFF leader, Collen Sedibe, said,
“The 2020 Audit report for the Mpumalanga provincial government is very bad and has been for many years. There is no improvement at all. This is the result of irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The AG states that executive authorities are not charging the transgressors, and this is because they influence them to take wrong decisions, especially on the tenders.”
Bosman Grobler, DA spokesperson on finance and economic development, said it appears the Office of the Premier deliberately appointed service providers who lack certain skills to ensure investigations into alleged corruption be flawed. “This is in contravention of section 2(1)(f) of the Preferential Policy Framework Act of South Africa, 2000 (Act No.5 of 2000) (PPPFA). The AG concluded his report by stating that management within the Office of the Premier did not adequately monitor and review compliance with laws and regulations. Corruption is always swept under the carpet.”
Werner Weber, the FF Plus provincial leader, said, “We are extremely concerned about the fact that the departmental audits not only showed stagnation and lack of accountability, but an outrageous and unacceptable large amount of irregular expenditures. It is very worrying that the majority of the departments handed in several misstatements and simply continue to rely on the audit process to ensure credible reporting in the annual financial statements. What stood out like a sore thumb is that management is not responsive in dealing with issues."
The premier's spokesperson, Sibongile Mkani-Mpolweni, said the provincial government has taken note of the report and is taking the necessary precautions to support all the accounting officers or authorities in addressing the concerns raised in the report.
“It is also important to note that the corrections made by departments were made in order to comply with the relevant applicable accounting standard,” MkaniMpolweni explained.
"The province acknowledges that it is the expectation that departments/entities prepare financial statements and annual performance reports that are free from material errors at their first attempt, hence measures such as the introduction of an electronic reporting system," she concluded.