Home Affairs flagged for wasting millions
AUDITOR-GENERAL Kimi Makwetu has found that the Department of Home Affairs incurred irregular expenditure exceeding R27 million in 2017/18, excluding the potential irregular expenditure of over R278m that is also currently being investigated.
“The majority of the irregular expenditure was due to non-compliance with supply chain management-related legislation,” Makwetu pointed out.
“The over R27m does not include the potential irregular expenditure of over R278.6m under investigation,” he said.
This was revealed in Makwetu’s audit report, which forms part of the department’s annual report which was tabled in Parliament on Monday.
The AG said no effective or appropriate steps were taken to prevent the irregular expenditure.
“Some of the goods and services of transactions valued at above R500 000 were procured without inviting competitive bids, and deviations were approved by the accounting officer. But they were compelled to invite competitive bids as required by the National Treasury regulations.”
Similar non-compliance reported in the previous year.
Makwetu said some contracts were extended or modified without the approval of delegated officials, as required by the Public Finance Management Act.
Some of the bid documentation for procurement of commodities designated for local content and production did not stipulate the minimum threshold for local production and content, as required by the 2017 preferential procurement regulations, Makwetu said.
Acting director-general Thulani Mavuso said in the annual report the causes of irregular expenditure were presented to the department’s loss control committee in accordance with Treasury’s irregular expenditure framework.
“After assessment and confirmation that the expenditure is indeed irregular, the loss control committee refers the cases for employee engagement and to institute disciplinary action against the officials responsible for incurring the irregular expenditure, and/or initiate possible recovery.”
Mavuso said in cases of fraud and corruption, matters were referred to the counter-corruption unit and law-enforcement agencies for investigation.
He noted that the R278m still to be confirmed as irregular expenditure was due to the R274m IT Automated Biometric Identification System, and R4m in supply chain management transgressions.
Mavuso said his department had requested Treasury to condone the R230m security services tender that was awarded in 2014, and found to be irregular by a forensic investigation.
The contract expired in April 2017, and the total amount spent in terms of the contract was R230m.
“This case represents the bulk of the opening balance disclosed as irregular expenditure,” he said, adding that only R73 000 was incurred as fruitless wasteful expenditure in the year under review due to“no-shows”, and interest paid on late payments and arbitration awards.
was THE SA Democratic Teachers Union’s (Sadtu) general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, has reiterated that the union will end its electoral support for the ANC and back the SACP if it finally resolves to contest the 2021 local government elections as an independent party.
This comes after the union resolved at its national congress that workers would have to side with the SACP if it were to contest the polls independently of the ANC.
The SACP is preparing for its special national congress in December, where it will make a final decision on whether to contest the elections on its own.
Maluleke said Cosatu and its affiliates would have to quickly convene their special congresses to “solidify” their positions on the elections.
“Whilst we are part of the SACP in terms of the left axis, there will also be a proper special congress that decides on the support of the SACP. We want the members to be consulted and participate in that particular debate,” Maluleke said.
Maluleke stressed that special congresses would not be held because the unions and Cosatu changed their position on elections but to avoid confusion among voters about who to back, and to demonstrate that a decision by workers to support the SACP was democratic.
Although Sadtu had made a decision on the matter, when “the decision is taken by the SACP saying, ‘This is concrete now, we are contesting’, we don’t want our members to be confused about who they should support”.
“We must call a meeting so that it pronounces support of the SACP, so that we have no confusion. Elections are, most of the time, a period where people will have to take some emotional decisions on the basis of the material conditions that are playing out on the ground,” Maluleke said.
He said the union had also resolved to push for the 2021 local elections to be postponed to 2024 in order for them to be held simultaneously with the provincial and national elections.
“We want a situation where, when the elections are held, all the spheres of government do those particular elections once, because it creates more problems currently. That particular synergy is important in terms of the resources that we have but also in terms of assessing the work of government,” Maluleke said.
In a statement on Monday, Sadtu said it would push for an Act stating all elections are held at the same time.
“Parliament should establish or formulate a bill to address the issue of having all elections, in all three tiers of government (national, provincial and local) simultaneously in order to ensure that government works effectively and efficiently,” the union said.
Maluleke, however, admitted that pushing for the legislation and the postponement of the 2021 local government elections would be an uphill battle. “Through Cosatu, we will lobby the tripartite alliance as a whole. We will also use our own platforms where we are able to engage directly with the ANC and its structures on the ground. Many branches are run by members of Sadtu. We have branch chairpersons and secretaries, so we will lobby throughout all those structures,” Maluleke said.