AG Wages War on Waste

PROGRESS: CRACKDOWN ON IRREGULAR EXPENDITURE YIELDS R4.5 BILLION

- Ciaran Ryan

R4.5 billion has been recovered over the last five years after being flagged as irregular, says auditor-general (AG) Tsakani Maluleke.

Some of this came from the recovery of part of the R700 million awarded by the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority for training programmes where little to no value was delivered and in violation of National Treasury rules which require evidence of services rendered before payment.

The R4.5 billion recovery over five years may seem like chump change given the magnitude of the problems confronting the AG. Its latest report on local government identifies R8.74 billion lost in 285 municipalities as a result of non-compliance with the law and suspected fraud.

Speaking at a Centre for Development and Enterprise presentation, Maluleke seemed exasperated at the lack of accountability among those charged with spending public money.

"I've been here at AG for 13 years and we've looked at this from every direction and concluded we have to look at governance.

"Basic management disciplines are not in place," she said.

Asked what improvements she observes, Maluleke pointed to the reduction in the number of disclaimers in AG audit opinions—down from 28 to 14—and the not-insubstantial R4.5 billion recovery in funds.

The recovery operations were fortified by changes in the law in 2019 that gave the AG expanded powers to demand action and accountability for material irregularities.

These include payments for goods and services not received or of poor quality, penalties imposed on municipalities for non-payment of Eskom and water board bills and revenue lost due to unbilled accounts or unrecovered debts.