In a briefing delivered today to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) by the Auditor General, it was revealed that:

• Fruitless and wasteful expenditure by national government departments increased by 200% in 2010/11, from R500 million to R1,5 billion.

• Irregular expenditure by national departments and entities rose by 62%, from R13 billion in 2009/10 to R21,1 billion in 2010/11.

President Zuma and his Cabinet need to take this very seriously indeed. They need to work out who is responsible in each department and take appropriate action against them. If this means firing those accounting officers in charge, then they must have the courage to do so.

This money is not the government’s money. The government holds it in trust for the people. And the people of South Africa deserve to directly benefit from all government expenditure. This R1,5 billion of wasted funds could have been used to build more than 26,000 RDP houses. It could have been used to improve our public hospitals and clinics, or buy textbooks for learners.

The chaotic financial management at national level is mirrored in the provinces. The Auditor General reported that 32% of provincial government departments received either qualified, adverse or disclaimer audits. For the second year in a row, it was only in the DA-run Western Cape that all provincial departments received unqualified audits.

Sound financial management is a crucial precondition for improved delivery. By ensuring that all provincial departments are run well, the DA-led provincial government has been able to deliver on its promise of improving service delivery for all in the Western Cape.

The Zuma administration must start taking strict action. It must take the strictest action possible to hold those guilty of fruitless and wasteful expenditure accountable. Steps must be taken to recover this money wherever possible. It is time that the Presidency places the needs of the South African people at the top of its priorities.