DIRCO under fire for damning audit outcome

NONCOMPLIANCE and a regression in asset management have been cited as the primary factors leading to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) receiving a qualified audit with findings for the 2024/25 financial year.

- MASHUDU SADIKE

THE DA and MKP blame Dirco minister Ronald Lamola for the dire state of overseas state-owned properties.

(GCIS)

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

While the Auditor General of South Africa (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 released last week paints a grim picture.

However, DIRCO's spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, pushed back against the DA's claims that the department's asset management for overseas missions was primarily to blame for the financial woes, saying that the statement was "misleading".