Johannesburg - Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde's
department has been given a disclaimer, one of the worst audit reports
possible, according to a report on Tuesday.
Auditor general Terence Nombembe said he found, among other
things, irregular expenditure amounting to R16.5m.
Also, the department could not verify or account for
material losses of R54.8m in a public-private partnership for vehicle leases.
Nombembe said another problem was an inability to obtain
evidence of R1.3bn in capital transactions.
There were also questions around the immovable assets of the
department, which is the custodian of most of the government's property
portfolio.
"I was unable to obtain sufficient and appropriate
audit evidence to satisfy myself as to the completeness, existence, rights,
valuation and allocation of properties recorded in the immovable asset register
of the department stated at R3.4bn," Nombembe said, according to a report
in Business Day newspaper.
In reaction, Mahlangu-Nkabinde said the situation was
"salvageable", and that "progress towards financial stability and good
corporate governance is under way".
In two separate reports this year, Public Protector Thuli
Madonsela held Mahlangu-Nkabinde and national police commissioner Bheki Cele
responsible for a R500m and R1.1bn lease agreement with businessman Roux
Shabangu for police office space in Pretoria and Durban.
Madonsela found the leases were concluded in an unlawful and
improper way.
Last week, Mahlangu-Nkabinde applied to the high court in
Pretoria to have a controversial police lease, worth R2bn, declared null and
void.