DA calls on Minister of Water Affairs to act on AG findings and bring charges against department's Director-General
Auditor General Report shows over R1bn irregular expenditure in Department of Water Affairs
South Africa can ill afford scarce public funds for environmental and water sectors to be wasted





The Democratic Alliance welcomes the report by the Auditor General into alleged procurement irregularities in the Department of Water Affairs. The report paints a damning picture of over R1bn irregular expenditure from, among other things, the irregular extension of contracts, deviation from procurement policies and the paying of service providers without contracts being in place. It must be noted that maladministration in this Department is possibly much wider, as the scope of the AG's investigation was only into specific cases raised with him by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in a briefing document. The irregular expenditure reported by the AG happened under the watch of the DG of Water Affairs, Pam Yako, who was suspended on 21 July 2009, pending the outcome of this investigation. The Minister must now act immediately on the findings of the AG by pressing charges against the DG and by conducting a fuller investigation into whether there were further cases of irregular expenditure in this Department.

Considering the severe challenges that South Africa faces in the water sector, including failing infrastructure, the worsening state of health of rivers and dams, and poor compliance and enforcement by the Department of Water Affairs, we can ill-afford for scarce public funds to be wasted.

The investigation into irregular expenditure in the Department has dragged on for one week short of a year, and in itself has cost the taxpayer a lot of money. The DG was suspended on full salary, and the investigation as of April 2010 had already cost R950 000, according to a reply by the Minister to a DA parliamentary question. The cost of the investigation, conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers on behalf of the AG, is now probably much higher.

The AG himself calls in the report for decisive action by the Minister on this matter, and notes correctly that corrective action should not just be taken on the limited cases reported on in the report. This he says would only address the symptoms, and not the underlying causes. The AG, limited by the scope of the investigation given to him, therefore hints at broader problems requiring urgent action. Further, the AG suggests in his recommendations that corrective action being taken against officials of the Department. It this therefore important that the Minister does not limit her steps to only action against the DG, but extends it to other officials who were involved in bringing about the irregular expenditure.

The Minister must also ensure that the Departmental Bid Adjudication Committee is reconstituted with appropriately qualified officials. This body came in for sharp criticism from the AG for not having officials qualified in supply chain management represented on it.

It is important that the AG's report is scrutinised by the both the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Portfolio Committee of Water and Environmental Affairs to ensure that the AG's recommendations are enforced, and that the Minister address the underlying causes of the problems in her Department and not just the symptoms. With this in mind the Chairpersons of the respective committees need to schedule meetings on the AG's report as soon as Parliament reconvenes.