Departments tightening belts

DEPARTMENTS and public entities appear to be heeding the call to tighten their belts in this difficult financial period with the government indicating improved financial performance this year.

Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu will on Wednesday give the clearest indication if the government has pulled up its socks and saved billions of rands in irregular expenditure.

Makwetu will table his report on the financial performance of national and provincial departments this year.

Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe hinted at the auditor-general’s report when he told the media in Cape Town last Thursday that there had been improvements by government departments.

Radebe said the national and provincial departments had done better this year than in previous years.

Makwetu had given the cabinet an extensive briefing on the performance of these two spheres of government, he said, adding that some of the departments had done exceptionally well.

Of the 469 departments and entities in the two spheres, 25% received clean audits last year, compared with 22% in 2013.

In 2012 only 17% managed clean audits.

Makwetu also singled out Gauteng and the Western Cape as the best-performing provinces last year. However, the auditor-general continued to be concerned about irregular expenditure.

At the end of the 2014 financial year, irregular expenditure totalled R62.7 billion.

Radebe said Makwetu highlighted the improvements in a number of areas.

While he did not divulge the figures, Radebe said the report “looked good”.

It showed that departments and entities were taking measures to comply with the austerity requirements, he said.

The auditor-general has over the past few years been emphasising the need for consequences for departments that failed to perform.

He has been urging ministers and MECs in provinces to take action against officials who fail to perform.

This also relates to the question of irregular expenditure.

While irregular expenditure was recorded at R62.7 billion last year, R30 billion of that amount was carried over from 2013.

The auditor-general wants this figure to be drastically reduced.

The concern over irregular expenditure has also been raised by the standing committee on public accounts and the standing committee on finance in Parliament.

These committees, which are the financial watchdogs of departments, want departments and entities to use the public purse prudently.

Ilanit Chernick

DURING a time when no one felt safe anywhere, when not many conflicts were resolved peacefully, South Africa stood out as “a shining star”.

The World Jewish Congress president, ambassador Ronald Lauder, was speaking yesterday as Jewish people from around southern Africa attended the SA Jewish Board of Deputies’ 48th biennial conference.

He was among the speakers who addressed the 1 200-strong audience along with President Jacob Zuma and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy.

”This country is a beacon of hope which was brilliantly directed by Nelson Mandela and continues under the strong leadership from President (Jacob) Zuma,” said Lauder.

“Jews and Africans have a long shared history of oppression and discrimination. Through the Jews’ long past of oppression, many stood up against the violence and racism during apartheid.”

Lauder said Mandela and Martin Luther King fought for the same cause in two different countries.

Lévy said that as a Frenchman, he viewed the South African Jewish community’s contribution to the global world as immeasurable.

Zuma congratulated the board and the community on its objective of bettering life for all South Africans.