By Thapelo Molefe
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has accused the provincial Department of Social Development (GDSD) of gross financial mismanagement, saying its continued irregular expenditure and lack of accountability have deprived the province’s poor and vulnerable of critical services.
According to the DA spokesperson for social development in the province, Refiloe Nt’sekhe, the department, led by MEC Faith Mazibuko, has become a breeding ground for corruption and impunity, with officials implicated in fraud and misconduct still occupying their positions while ordinary citizens suffer.
“The poor and vulnerable in Gauteng continue to be deprived of essential services due to ongoing financial mismanagement, irregular expenditure, and impunity for those guilty of financial misconduct,” Nt’sekhe said in a statement on Wednesday.
“MEC Mazibuko must urgently implement strict financial management controls and stop shielding corrupt individuals who are stealing from the most vulnerable residents.”
The party’s statement follows the release of the 2024/25 Auditor-General’s report, which paints a grim picture of persistent financial chaos within the department.
The report found that the GDSD continues to ignore basic financial controls and has failed to act on long-standing recommendations from earlier investigations, including seven damning reports by BDO and Bowmans in 2018, which had called for criminal charges against officials implicated in fraud and corruption.
However, seven years later, the DA says no action has been taken.
“The department has not implemented recommendations from investigation reports,” the Auditor-General noted in the 2024/25 Annual Report.
In that report, it found there was “material non-compliance in expenditure and consequence management,” and that “the Accounting Officer did not prevent irregular expenditure”.
The report also raises alarm over irregular procurement for food parcels and “dignity packs”, both essential welfare programmes targeting impoverished women and children.
According to the findings, the accounting officer approved irregular procurement even when it was “practical to invite competitive bids,” in violation of procurement laws.
Even more disturbing, the Auditor-General found that the department recorded invalid and deceased Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) beneficiaries as active recipients of services. The DA said that this manipulation of data is a clear attempt to conceal inefficiency and corruption in the NPO funding system.
Nt’sekhe described the department’s so-called “audit improvement plan” as a “sham,” accusing the administration of Premier Panyaza Lesufi of turning a blind eye to financial malpractice.
“It is a disgrace that six years after the Bowmans and BDO reports exposed deep-seated rot in NPO funding and procurement, the same issues persist,” she said.
The DA demanded that MEC Mazibuko table the full BDO and Bowmans reports before the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and disclose all steps taken or not taken to implement their recommendations.
The party further wants implicated officials referred for criminal prosecution, as recommended in 2018, and for Mazibuko to provide a detailed update on consequence management actions as required by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
“If MEC Mazibuko and Premier Panyaza Lesufi fail to table these reports to cover up corruption, the DA will escalate the matter to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and demand an independent forensic review of all NPO funding since 2018,” Nt’sekhe warned.
She added that the “time of exploiting the GDSD for the benefit of corrupt individuals close to politicians has ended,” calling on the provincial government to recover every rand lost to irregular spending and “nefarious” financial practices.
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