By Akani Nkuna
The DA has slammed provincial departments in the Free State for excessive government spending, raising serious concerns about fiscal responsibility and governance.
This comes after the Auditor General briefed the Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts and Finance in the Free State Legislature on the audit outcomes of the provincial departments and entities for the year ending 31 March 2024.
The auditor-general’s report revealed some concerning findings, where seven provincial departments and entities received qualified opinions with findings, while nine others got unqualified findings.
The provincial treasury and the provincial legislature were the only entities that achieved a clean audit.
Only 11% of provincial departments and entities achieved audits, while the 89% demonstrated shortcomings in financial statement quality, performance reporting, performance monitoring, or legislative compliance.
DA spokesperson for Public Account in the Free State, Werner Pretorius, said on Wednesday that the party is highly concerned about the drastic increase in fruitless and wasteful expenditure that nearly tripled from R104 million in 2022/23 to R309 million in 2023/24.
“The total unwanted expenditure is a staggering R1,48 billion for the 2023/2024 financial year. These adverse findings negatively impact on service delivery in the province and hamper development in our communities,” said Pretorius.
“The AG flagged the lack of accountability and the slow pace and implementation of consequence management in the province as one of the main contributing factors for the dismal audit outcomes.”
The report outlined top five entities contributing to irregular expenditure, including the following departments:
• Community Safety, Roads and Transport (R349,75 million)
• Education (R236,93 million)
• Human Settlements (R194,26 million)
• Office of the Premier (R76,81 million)
• Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (R53,99 million)
“The audit outcomes could significantly improve if decisive action were taken against irregularities within departments and entities,” Pretorius added.
The DA attributed the lack of political will and the inadequate implementation of strategies as factors which enable the mismanagement of public funds.
“The DA calls on the political leadership and accounting officers to commence and finalize the UIFW investigations and take decisive steps against individuals involved in unwanted expenditures,” Pretorius said.
Pretorius further emphasized that investments should prioritize high-impact projects and the essential infrastructure development, particularly given the strain on public finances.
Pretorius also urged the AG to initiate enforcement actions against uncooperative departments failing to implement corrective measures and enforce consequence management in efforts to discourage executives from wasteful expenditure.
INSIDE METROS