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A joint meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General (AG) today received a briefing from the Auditor-General, Mr Kimi Makwetu, on the 2016/17 audit outcomes.

The Committee noted that the findings from the AG show that the situation is worsening at government departments and public entities. The Committee was informed by the AG that in key programmes 22% targets were achieved while 67% were not achieved, whereas all the budgets were spent. The lowest achievements were in water and school infrastructure.

The Committee also learnt that irregular expenditure has increased significantly in the public sector. The increase of irregular expenditure throughout government reflects how the mismanagement of finances, fraud and theft of public funds are not taken seriously in government. The AG also informed the Committee that the South African Airways group has not submitted financial statements yet, as management could not conclude on whether the company will be able to continue operations in future. The Committee has also learned that Prasa has not submitted any approved financial statements to the AG for the 2016/17 financial year.

These outcomes demonstrate that the lack of penalties for late submission or no submission poses a huge challenge for oversight bodies seeking redress in the management of finances in the public sector.

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of Scopa, Themba Godi