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Gauteng depts under fire for unauthorised spend

Johannesburg - The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) recommended to the funding of the total expenditure of the Gauteng Provincial Government of R1.8bn. However, the committee recommended that R13.3m incurred by certain departments not be approved.

This is according to Gauteng’s MEC of Finance, Barbara Creecy, who was speaking at the tabling of the 2016 Gauteng unauthorised expenditure bill, in Johannesburg on Tuesday. This follows the announcement last week where Premier David Makhura shared that the province received 21 clean audits, a first in 13 years. 

In her speech Creecy said that Scopa also recommended for approval, but without funding, the total expenditure of R8.9m, incurred during 2011 and 2012.

The R13.3m was incurred collectively by the departments of education, roads and transport, economic development, human settlement, infrastructure development, community safety and the department of sports, arts, culture and recreation. These departments did not provide “substantive reasons” to ascertain the approval of unauthorised expenditure, said Creecy.

The main reasons for the unauthorised expenditure include emergency medical services transfers, overcrowding in hospitals, curriculum implementation support and migration of learners to the province. As well as the increase in the number of district offices, learning space for the early childhood development sector,  funds for Gautrain that were not appropriated and subsidies for bus transport transferred from the North West Province. Other things include debts which were written off and increased personnel costs.

Offsetting surpluses

“The condoned unauthorised expenditure in the amount of R1.8bn, incurred in the prior financial years will reduce the provincial surpluses accumulated from previous financial years,” stated Creecy. The equivalent amount will be used to clear the overdraft balances in the departmental bank accounts, she explained.

The unauthorised expenditure of R8.9m and the R13.3m, which was not approved, will become the first charge against the allocated funds for the next or future financial years, she said.  

Responsible spending

Despite the shortcomings of unauthorised expenditure, the province managed to improve the responsibility of its spending in other areas.

Since implementing the Revenue Enhancement Strategy, the province achieved a 10.7% in over collection of revenue. These additional funds were used to supplement the budget received from national government to expand delivery of public services, she explained.

To ensure the efficient allocation of financial resources, the province focused on implementing solutions in certain areas. One of these being personnel spending, which was one of the reasons for unauthorised spending in certain departments. To keep tabs on this, the wage bill was stabilised at 54%, said Creecy.

The province also managed to achieve liquidity by ensuring that cash outflows did not exceed revenue streams, through its “prudent cash management” practices.

Gauteng’s Treasury department reported a clean audit status for the fourth year in a row. “This is a commendable achievement and shows that the department leads by example,” said Creecy.

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