NHI budget underspent by R82m, says Makwetu
THE national Health Department has underspent the budget on national health insurance (NHI) by R82 million in 2017-18.
This was revealed by Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu in his audit report submitted to Parliament along with the department’s annual report.
“The department materially underspent the budget by R82 193 000 on the national health insurance: health information systems component,” Makwetu said.
“I did not raise any material findings on the usefulness and reliability of the reported performance information for this programme,” he said.
The department said it had allocated R166m for the NHI information system but spent only R83.8m.
It blamed delays in infrastructure projects on technical compliance complexity, delays in awarding projects to contractors and contractual issues with some contractors.
While the department recorded zero in irregular expenditure, there was more than a R1m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Makwetu said the department did not have sufficient monitoring controls to ensure adherence to internal policies and procedures.
“Oversight by leadership needs to be improved in the areas where reporting of performance information is dependent on controls and information originating from information systems.”
During the audit Makwetu found significant internal control weaknesses with inaccurate and incomplete recording of immovable assets and commitments.
“The implementation of adequate controls that will prevent and detect material misstatements remains a challenge for senior management of the department. This resulted in the correction of material misstatements in the financial statements relating to commitments and immovable assets.”
The AG noted concerns with proper record keeping and controls in the infrastructure and pathology unit.
Makwetu also said he did not find evidence to back achievements reported by the department.
The department recorded 100% achievement for food tests that were completed within turnaround time at 20.85%. “However, the supporting evidence provided did not agree to the reported achievement and indicated an achievement of 21%.”
He also made a similar finding on achievement for the target of backlog blood alcohol tests.
Makwetu added that he could not obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence for compliance with national core standards assessment at a targeted 43 hospitals.
“This was due to limitations placed on the scope of my work. I was unable to confirm the reported achievement by alternative means. Consequently, I was unable to determine whether any adjustments were required to the achievement of 37 hospitals as reported.” KING Goodwill Zwelithini has rejected land expropriation without compensation, saying that it will destroy food production by driving “hard-working” white farmers out of the country.
Addressing the King Shaka celebration at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium yesterday, the king said the government would destroy the spirit of the rainbow nation by passing the land bill.
“When the government raised the issue of expropriation without compensation, white farmers downed their tools, and right now there is no food in South Africa,” he said.
In July, the king held a meeting with AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel at the Enyokeni Palace in Nongoma to discuss the issue of land.