It is extremely concerning to note that the latest Auditor-General’s (AG) report on the audit outcomes of national and provincial government has highlighted the fact that billions of rand in taxpayer money has been wasted without any consequence management taking place.
Of particular concern is the fact that the AG noted that there was inadequate monitoring of preventative controls and insufficient consequence management in Gauteng, which resulted in a stagnation of the audit outcomes.
In addition, the AG noted that non-compliance with supply chain prescripts remained a concern, with irregular expenditure increasing to R7,49 billion, with a closing balance of R36,6 billion.
It is categorically evident that more needs to be done to ensure that irregular expenditure by the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) is curbed, as it does open the door for corruption to take place, and further points to poor planning.
Further to this, more needs to be done to ensure that the GPG complies with the Supply Chain Management (SCM) process, as this will ensure that all businesses, especially those that operate in the township economy space, are given a fair chance at providing goods and services to government. This will go a long way to ensuring that these small businesses are equipped to provide the youth in our province an opportunity to enhance their skill set. This is important if we want to bring down the high unemployment rate.
It is high time that consequence management is implemented by the GPG, where officials who are found to have not adhered to the proper procurement and spending protocols put in place by National and Provincial Treasury, are disciplined accordingly.