The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The simple task of reporting on one's financial records is beginning to become a major drain on state resources. Using a set of replies to parliamentary questions that we have posed over the last six months, we estimate that well over R40-million is being spent on producing these documents every year - which is at least R10-million more than necessary.

Our most significant concern, however, rests with some of the individual cases of enormous waste. The South African Post Office is a classic case in point. The recipient of more than R1.5-billion in financial assistance and bailout money from the Treasury over the last four years, the Post Office spent an astonishing R947 per unit of their annual report - despite the report featuring minimal graphics design or special features, and only amounting to 168 pages.

Compare the cost of the Post Office report with the cost of other similar reports:

Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism - 166 pages - R91 unit cost - 55c per page
Department of Health - 222 pages - R88 unit cost - 39c per page
Department of Land Reform - 144 pages - R83 unit cost - 57c per page
South African Post Office - 168 pages - R947 unit cost - R5.63 per page

Out of the total R805 000 budget allocated to publishing the Post Office annual report, an astonishing R576 000 was spent on graphic design, but there is absolutely nothing in the Post Office's very bland and graphics devoid document that suggests how this could have been appropriate.

This is R800 more than the average cost of R146 per report and if worked out on a per page basis, close to twenty times the cost of the Department of Health's annual report.

The top 10 most expensive annual reports are as follows:

Department / Public entity Pages Unit cost Cost per Page Total Cost Copies Produced
South African Post Office (Communications) 166 R 947 R5.63 R 805,698 850
South African Tourism (Tourism) 173 R 505 R2.91 R 556,341 1100
Council for Medical Schemes 288 R 450 R1.56 R 450,908 1000
Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (Water and Environmental Affairs) 140 R 446 R3.18 R 428,821 960
NRF (Science and Technology) Unknown R 386 Unknown R 579,282 1500
Sentech (Communications) 142 R 305 R2.14 R 457,934 1500
DBSA (Finance) Unknown R 296 Unknown R 592,810 2000
Department of Public Service and Administration Unknown R 283 Unknown R 425,790 1,500
CEF (Energy) Unknown R 260 Unknown R 389,489 1500
NEDLAC Unknown R 256 Unknown R 512,442 2000

Again, there is excessive cost associated with these reports. Whereas the Department of Health produces reports at 39c per page, the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), Sentech and Council for Medical Schemes, to take three of the examples above, spent R3.18, R2.14 and R1.56 per page respectively. The TCTA alone could have saved R377,000 by printing at the cost that the Department of Health achieves; instead of costing R428,160 in total, it could have spent just R51,000 to print exactly the same number of documents with the same number of pages.

Outside of the top ten highest costs per unit, there are also numerous cases of massive over-expenditure. The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) is a typical example - it spent R700 000 on producing its report, but overspent by over R200 000, bringing the total to R909 817.

And among the other unnecessary excesses displayed in the printing of annual reports for the 2008/09 financial year, there are all manner of ridiculous features - including glitter print, dye cut print, digital clocks embedded in the report counting down to the FIFA 2010 World Cup kickoff, photography commissioned specifically for annual reports, and all manner of glossy and matte print papers. While we certainly agree that state entities need to produce reports that look professional and presentable, we have moved far beyond that, into the realm of self-congratulatory, ingratiating products.

The costs associated with producing annual reports are a typical example of where President Zuma's call for "every cent [to] be spent wisely and fruitfully" must be heeded. It is very easy to shrug off the fact that the Post Office is producing R950 reports, or that about R10-million could be saved every year, simply by introducing a new rule into the Public Finance Management Act, to force all state departments and entities to conform to a set of budgetary rules when producing their reports.

Of 34 annual reports for national departments and their state entities released last year, 11 carried a qualified audit opinion, and only one received a clean audit opinion. Considering this fact, it is highly problematic that these departments saw fit to waste even more money on glamorising these details instead of focusing on the real task at hand - getting on with the job and delivering services to the people.

The vast difference in price of the annual reports, ranging from the cheapest at R11 per unit when published on CD, to the R947 per unit for the annual report published by the South African Post Office, demonstrates quite clearly that there are large savings to be made here.

So far, we have tabulated that more than R21 million spent on the 2008/09 annual reports for 17 national departments and their associated entities. Given that there are a total of 34 national government departments, it is reasonable to assume that well over R40 million is being spent every year in an area where cuts in the region of R10-R20 million could quite easily be achieved.

A number of departments deserve to be commended for their efforts not to overspend on annual reports, such as the Department of Health (R88 per unit), Department of Human Settlements (R82 per unit) and the Department of Agriculture (R58 per unit). It must be noted that these departments still produced documents that look professional and aesthetically presentable.

The ANC government needs to address this irresponsible and completely unnecessary and wasteful expenditure as a matter of urgency. Among the requirements set out in the Public Finance Management Act, a restriction should be introduced to limit the amount spent on annual reports, with guidelines to assist national departments in structuring a functional, yet cost effective annual report.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Dr Dion George, MP - 082 459 9342
Ross van der Linde - 076 543 7254

Annexure 1: Cost of Annual Reports by Department (2008/09)

DEPARTMENT (2008/2009) BUDGETED COST ACTUAL COST UNIT COST COPIES PRODUCED
Agriculture R 150,000 R 116,097 R 58 2,000
Communications R 250,000 R 143,084 R 110 1,500
Cooperative Governance and Tradtional Affairs R 500,000 R 497,275 R 248 2,000
Energy R 200,000 R 281,380 R 137 1,000
Environmental Affairs and Tourism R 200,000 R 137,747 R 91 1,500
Health R 390,000 R 177,500 R 88 2,000
Home Affairs R 500,000 R 333,102 R 111 3,000
Human Settlements R 200,000
R 186,551
R 82 1,500
Human Settlements (CDs) R 11 2,000
Justice and Constitutional Development (NPA) R 250,000 R 246,978 R 205 1,200
Labour R 210,000 R 108,417 R 108 1,000
Land Affairs R 450,000 R 356,734 R 83 4,500
The Minister in the Presidency: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation and Administration R 150,000
R 102,534
R 68 500
The Minister in the Presidency: Performance Monitoring and
Evaluation and Administration (CDs) ?? 1000
Public Service and Administration R 500,000 R 425,790 R 283 1,500
Safety and Security (SAPS) R 530,000 R 252,000 R 56 4,500
Sport and Recreation R 250,000 R 152,267 R 94 1,000
Trade and Industry R 500,000 R 336,052 R 239 500
Trade and Industry (CDs) R 11 500
Water Affairs and Forestry R 24,000 R 237,518 R 224 1,000
Water Affairs and Forestry (CDs) R 25 500
TOTALS/AVERAGES R 5,254,000 R 4,091,026 R 117 34,200

Annexure 2: Cost of Annual Reports by State Entities (2008/09)

PUBLIC ENTITY (2008/2009) BUDGETED COST ACTUAL COST UNIT COST COPIES PRODUCED
Agricultural Research Council (ARC) R 500,000 R 464,209 R 249 1500
Agricultural Research Council (ARC) (CDs) ?? 2500
AISA (Department of Science and Technology) R 160,000 R 184,897 R 184 1000
Boxing SA R 140,000 R 135,078 R 135 1000
Commission on Restituion of Land Rights - Dep of Labour R 250,000 R 223,350 R 14 15000
CCMA - Dep of Labour R 145,000 R 112,848 R 16 7000
CEF (Department of Energy) R 450,000 R 389,489 R 260 1500
CMA's (Catchment Management Agencies) - Dep of Water R 95,000 R 81,591 R 80 1016
Compensation Fund - Dep of Labour R 60,000 R 53,425 R 53 1000
Compensation Commissioner for Occupational Diseases - Dep of Health R 50,000 R 31,920 R 53 600
Council for Medical Schemes R 571,000 R 450,908 R 450 1000
CSIR (Department of Science and Technology) R 400,000 R 376,830 R 125 3000
DBSA (Department of Finance) R 1,297,500 R 592,810 R 296 2000
DST (Department of Science and Technology) R 385,000 R 287,096 R 191 1500
Education Labour Relations Council R 269,500 R 216,734 R 84 1700
Film and Publications Board R 200,000 R 216,588 R 270 800
Housing institutions - Dep of Human Settlements R 1,190,000 R 907,922 R 124 7295
HSRC (Department of Science and Technology) R 700,000 R 909,817 R 139 5500
ICASA (Dep of Communications) R 120,000 R 220,136 R 34 1500
Ingonyama Trust Board - Dep of Labour R 80,000 R 76,842 R 25 3000
Justice and Constitutional Development (NPA) - President's Fund R 40,000 R 39,791 R 39 1000
Justice and Constitutional Development (NPA) - Guardian's Fund R 50,000 R 47,882 R 47 1000
Legal Aid SA - Dep of Justice R 250,000 R 186,115 R 62 3000
NRF ( Department of Science and Technology) R 650,000 R 579,282 R 386 1500
National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) R 110,000 R 96,642 R 117 825
National Health Laboratory Services - Dep of Health R 300,000 R 182,773 R 92 2000
NCERA FARMS (PTY) LTD (Dep of Agriculture) R 10,000 R 11,750 R 21 550
NEDLAC R 540,000 R 512,442 R 256 2000
NEMSIA (Dep of Communications) R 100,000 R 100,539 R 100 1000
NECSA (Department of Energy) R 348,000 R 435,835 R 160 1500
NERSA (Department of Energy) R 240,000 R 292,410 R 83 2000
NNR (Department of Energy) R 300,000 R 277,594 R 185 2100
Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) - Dep of Agriculture R 100,000 R 44,480 R 74 600
Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) - Dep of Agriculture R 100,000 R 119,348 R 99 1200
Public Service Commission R 250,000 R 233,032 R 105 2200
Sa Institute For Drug-Free Sport R 90,000 R 51,500 R 98 25
Sa Institute For Drug-Free Sport (CDs) R 48 800
SA Law Reform Commission R 90,000 R 71,500 R 71 1000
SA Medical Research Council R 130,000 R 148,012 R 62 2370
SABC (Dep of Communications) R 500,000 NA R 115 1000
SETAs (total for 23 SETAs) R 7,648,354 R 4,458,730 R 87 60450
Sentech (Dep of Communications R 620,000 R 457,934 R 305 1500
South African Council for Educators (SACE) R 100,000 R 79,309 R 51 1700
SAPO (Dep of Communications) R 1,000,000 R 805,698 R 947 850
South African Tourism R 600,000 R 556,341 R 505 1100
Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) - Dep of Water R 550,000 R 428,821 R 446 960
UIF - Dep of Labour NA R 274,780 R 55 5000
UMSOBOMVU R 250,000 R 247,658 R 165 1500
Umalusi (Education state entity) R 214,671 R 91,081 R 46 2000
USAASA (Dep of Communications) R 270,000 R 195,325 R 48 1250
Water Research Commission (WRC) - (Dep of Water) R 280,000 R 211,436 R 121 1500
TOTALS/AVERAGES R 22,794,025 R 17,170,530 R 156 164,891