Government waste: R1.3 trillion lost to irregular and fruitless expenditure

GOVERNMENT departments, entities, and municipalities have “squandered” over RI trillion in the past five years in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure (UIFW).

- THAMI MAGUBANE

Parliamentary replies show that government departments and entities have incurred hundreds of billions of rand in UIFW expenditure between 2019 and 2024.

Unauthorised and irregular expenditure refers to money spent without following proper procedures, while fruitless and wasteful expenditure refers to money spent in an improper manner.

The replies were to questions asked by ActionSA MP Alan Beesley. He stated that calculations show that over the past five years, the government has incurred R1.3 trillion on UIFW expenditure.

This figure does not include the activities of provincial government departments, as that information, according to the replies, is submitted directly to the treasuries of the different provinces.

Members of Parliament have registered their unhappiness with this issue and indicated that they are worried about the trajectory of UIFW. They noted that while it showed signs of decline over the years, it has spiked again in recent years.

The National Treasury was contacted for comment but had not responded to the request.