Cape Town - The department of public works (DPW) is not able to account
for more than R2.1bn worth of goods, services and capital expenditure
during the 2010/11 financial year, the auditor general said on Monday.
In
the DPW's latest annual report tabled in parliament, the auditor
general's report on the department's financial statements said that he
was unable to satisfy himself as to the occurrence, accuracy and
compliance of goods and services amounting to R819.046m and expenditure
for capital assets stated at R1.340bn.
The auditor general also
said that he could not obtain sufficient evidence as to the obligation,
valuation and classification of the operating lease commitments of
R115m.
He also pointed out that irregular and wasteful expenditure of more than R16m understated wasteful expenditure.
The
DPW received an appropriation of R7.365bn for the 2010/11 financial
year compared with R6.049bn for the year before. In the last financial
year it managed to spend 90% of its budget compared with 94% the year
before.
In her foreword, Public Works Minister Gwen
Mahlangu-Nkabinde made no mention of the debacle surrounding the lease
of two SA Police Service buildings in Pretoria and Durban amounting to
almost R2bn.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found in her
investigation of the leases that Mahlangu-Nkabinde had committed
maladministration in authorising the leases at rates far above their
market value.
Mahlangu-Nkabinde has since taken court action to have the leases declared void.
The
auditor general's report also pointed out that the DPW had materially
underspent the budget on the immovable asset management programme to the
amount of R235m, and the expanded public works programme (EPWP) to the
amount of R500m.
"In terms of the EPWP, the bulk of the
under-expenditure was due to the infrastructure grant to provinces and
municipalities not being transferred due to the under-reporting and poor
performance by the reporting bodies eligible for the incentive grant,"
the auditor general said.
The EPWP is government's main job
creation project to help as many unemployed people as possible to find
paid work in building roads, schools and other public works.
He
said that as a consequence, the department did not achieve its
objectives of fast-tracking the construction of selected schools and
energy-efficient intervention.
The auditor general also slammed
the usefulness of the information supplied for auditing purposes in
terms of consistency and measurability.
The auditor general
attacked the leadership within the department, accusing the accounting
officer (the director general, Mandla Mabuza) for not exercising
oversight responsibility regarding financial performance and procedures
to enable and support the understanding and execution of internal
objectives, processes and responsibilities.