AG slams R8.9bn irregular spend
Makwetu finds KZN health department’s wrong expenditure
chris.ndaliso@inl.co.za KWAZULU-Natal MEC of Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has come in for severe criticism after Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu revealed the provincial health department amassed R8.96 billion in irregular expenditure in the 2017/18 financial year.
This comes as the department faces medical negligence lawsuits totalling R17.56bn in the year under review.
The report, tabled before the health portfolio committee, claims irregular expenditure rose by R1.47bn over the previous financial year.
Makwetu attributed it to “very poor” management of irregular expenditure and there were no investigations of such irregularities.
“The department did not fully record irregular expenditure as required by Section 40 (3) of the Public Finance Management Act. The management did not ensure that supply-chain management (SCM) was followed, and that procurement was approved with due regard for SCM requirements to be followed,” the report said.
Makwetu found 62 officials did not disclose their own interests or those of close family members, partners or associates in contracts entered into with the department.
The report raised concerns the department had inadequate implementation of action plans to address audit findings raised in the previous financial years. Makwetu couldn’t obtain audit evidence for commuted overtime allowances of R984.89 million included in compensative or circumstantial payment.
The report revealed the department could not verify proper timekeeping records for overtime payments, and the auditor-general’s office was unable to verify “facts” and figures.
The DA said the department was in crisis. “Damning is the auditor-general’s comment that he and his team are worried the Treasury task team – deployed to fix the numerous problems – is not producing the desired outcome,” said its spokesperson on health in the province, Dr Imran Keeka.
“This raises serious concerns around the legitimacy of any information supplied to the portfolio committee and to the public. The DA has long been mistrustful about information supplied by the MEC and his department. This has brought MEC Dhlomo and his department into further disrepute,” Dr Keeka said.
The IFP’s Ncamisile Nkwanyana said the department’s leadership failed to exercise effective oversight and monitoring over the consistent application of policies and procedures.
She said the irregular expenditure was attributed to a lack of adequate systems of control for recording transactions and awarding contracts.
“It would seem under Dhlomo’s leadership adherence to the law is optional. We remain deeply concerned about the extent of medico-legal liability facing the department and the threat this poses to the budget for essential health services,” she said.
The provincial health department said irregular expenditure was expenditure not incurred in the manner prescribed by legislation.
It said its audit and internal control component had been resourced with monitoring and evaluation personnel to strengthen its control environment to achieve better audit outcomes.