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Today, in a meeting of the Health Portfolio Committee, it was revealed that the Department of Health incurred irregular expenditure of R5.8 billion in 2010/11. This accounts for 25% of total national government irregular expenditure for 2010/11.

I will today be writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Mr Monwabisi Bevan Goqwana to request that the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, comes before the committee to account for his department’s poor financial management.

The Department of Health’s financial affairs are in a worrying state. This year, it received a qualified audit, and the Auditor General is currently probing a number of instances of poor financial management.

These include:
• A departmental official who travelled abroad at the state’s expense, without ministerial approval;
• Fraudulent transactions to the tune of R845 196 involving the department’s travel agency;
• Fraud in the procurement of health promotion materials costing over R80 000.
The Department of Health is planning to roll out its ambitious National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme over the next 14 years, at an estimated cost of R255 billion in 2025.

It is crucial that all South Africans are able to access cost-effective quality healthcare. However, the department’s inability to manage its own finances raises questions about its ability to manage the vast budget of the NHI.

The management of the department’s finances is directly linked to its ability to deliver on its mandate, meaning that its financial health is directly linked to that of our nation. Minister Motsoaledi’s department must get its house in order to ensure that the South African people have access to the quality public healthcare they deserve.