The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture has instructed the South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) to furnish the Committee with more information in order to properly process a forensic audit into the institution. The investigation emanated from a 2011/2012 disclaimer audit finding that the agency got.

The agency was today briefing the Committee on a forensic audit that was instituted to look into funds totalling R2.25m allocated to the Heritage Foundation from 2011 to 2013. This emanated as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sahra and theHeritage Foundation for the restoration, conservation and management of identified burial and memorial sites of concentration camps.

The report was also necessitated by the fact that the project had only focused on investigating and preserving white concentration camps while no effort was made to preserve black concentration camps. Furthermore, the MoU did not provide detailed information on costing in the roll out of the programme.

The Committee is unhappy with the level of information provided as it does not enable Members to properly interrogate the report. “Members raised the need to have the signed MoU as part of the package so as to have the context with which the report is based,” said Mr Jabulani Mahlangu, the Acting Chairperson of the Committee.    

The Committee has given the agency one month to provide the necessary information requested by the Committee.

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture, Mr Jabulani Mahlangu