The DA will request Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, to urgently table a turnaround plan for her department’s financial and performance woes. The 2013/2014 annual report for the former Department of Water Affairs tabled in Parliament today reveals serious financial problems.
 

 
The report recorded R 172.4 million in irregular expenditure for the department. This included 151 instances of irregular expenditure.
 

 
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R26.4 million. This money was spent on accommodation for officials from the department for a conference that never took place. The officials simply stayed in the accommodation for no particular reason, essentially enjoying a state-sponsored trip to the tune of R26.4 million.
 

 
An additional R748.6 million was spent on irregular expenditure in the department’s Water Trading Entity. Irregular expenditure took place on 24 occasions in this entity.
 

 
Taken together, that means that the department irregularly spent R921 million in 175 separate cases.
 

 
The department also wrote off R34.2 million in bad debt, of which the majority was for loans and State Guarantees.
 

 
The Auditor General, Kimi Makwethu, sighted “inadequate leadership – for oversight responsibility to prevent irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure”. The AG’s report also sighted major concerns in employee appointments made without following the legal framework and that a lack of review and monitoring resulted in non-compliance with laws and regulations. The department therefore received a qualified audit.
 

 
It has been noted that the department constantly faces capacity shortages when it comes to technical skills, however the department underspent R29 million of the money set aside to fill vacant posts across all programmes. Vacancy rates for example in critical occupations such as economists are at 66% and cartographers and surveyors at 44%.
 

 
In one of the most crucial performance indicators, Water Scheme Refurbishment, the set target for the year under review was 125 Water Services Authorities (WSA) to be refurbished. The department however failed to reach its target and only managed to refurbish 41 of the prioritised WSA’s.
 

 
This comes at the same time that most metropolitan areas in Gauteng have been left dry or have experienced sporadic water supply, despite assurances from Rand Water and the water departments of the Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni Metros that the issue is under control.
 

 
If the department can’t manage its finances, can’t fill its vacancies and isn’t meeting key infrastructure targets, it is not surprising that it is unable to ensure reliable supply of water. This is all deeply worrying, as the health and economic implications could be severe if water shortages become more common.
 

 
The minister must urgently table a plan in Parliament to ensure the continued viability of South Africa’s water supply. Her plan must address:
 
 
Improving financial management in the department;
Filling vacant posts in the department; and
Hitting all performance targets as agreed upon, with particular focus on infrastructure maintenance.

Issued by the DA