International Relations Department faces backlash in Parliament over crumbling embassies

THE Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) finds itself at the centre of a storm after its audit opinion regressed from an unqualified audit with findings to a qualified audit with findings for the 2024/25 financial year.

- MASHUDU SADIKE

This decline, following three consecutive years of unqualified audits, has ignited a debate within the parliamentary Portfolio Committee, with opposition parties and even members of the Government of National Unity expressing shock and demanding accountability.

The Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) announced the department's financial regression during a briefing to Parliament last week.

While the AGSA had reported an improvement in Dirco’'s audit outcomes in the 2021/22 financial year, moving from financially qualified to unqualified with findings, the latest report paints a grim picture. The DA claimed that the department's asset management for overseas missions is primarily to blame for the financial woes.

However, Dirco’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, pushed back against the DAs claims, saying that their statement was “misleading”.

“The qualification had nothing to do with the fixed assets, including the properties.”

However, Phiri acknowledged that some of these properties had not received maintenance in over 16 years.

Phiri further detailed the actual causes of the regressive audit finding.

He revealed that the department failed to maintain a credible asset register, which was found to be understated by over R112 million, with an astounding R983.6 million in unverified items. Other contributing factors included the failure to dispose of obsolete assets, persistent procurement violations, a lack of consequence management, and various errors in financial statements.