Underspending by departments a slap in the face of the poor

It goes without saying that a government exists to serve the people through the provision of basic services. This means that if a government fails to deliver on this mandate, it is the public that gets betrayed.

Every year, the minister of finance allocates funds to all departments and its entities to render services to community members. Municipalities also receive funds from National Treasury to ensure that people have access to services such as human settlements, sanitation, water, roads and electricity.

The allocation of funds is done because it is known that there is a gap that needs to be filled using money and other resources.

On this note, let me state categorically that it is uncalled for to have departments returning funds to Treasury at the end of a financial year simply because the money couldn’t be spent.

In August Treasury reported underspending by 12 departments. The two worst offenders were the department of public enterprises with R17.8bn and the department of social development with R9.4bn.

This is worrying because when funds are allocated it is clearly specified what the money is intended for, why should it go back to Treasury? How do we justify sending money meant for service delivery back to the Treasury when unemployment is rife and there is a serious need for service delivery?

As a traditional leader, I believe government departments and municipalities should liaise with us to help them identify gaps that exist within our communities, so they could intervene, thus spending their allocated funds.

Oupa Mnisi, Tlhavekisa, Limpopo