Poor documenting is frustrating the Auditor General

In his latest report released on Wednesday‚ Auditor General Kimi Makwetu said the lack of a paper trail resulted in him being unable to audit about R1.8-billion of contracts or spending in the 2016-2017 financial year.

Makwetu said 34 auditees could not provide them with evidence that awards had been made in accordance with the requirements of the supply chain management legislation. “The documentation either did not exist or could not be retrieved as a result of poor document management‚” Makwetu said.

KwaZulu-Natal‚ which recorded the highest irregular expenditure‚ also had the most severe documentation problem. The AG could not audit around R894-million which was reported to have been used by the province’s Human Settlements department.

The figure has however decreased from the R1.2-billion which could not be accounted for in the previous financial year.

The SABC was listed as one of the offenders who failed to provide documentation for R193-million. Similarly Gauteng’s health department failed to provide the necessary documentation for how R46-million was spent.

Makwetu said the limitation led to them being unable to say whether a proper procurement process was followed and whether all the awarding of contracts had happened fairly‚ transparently and competitively.

“We could not determine whether these awards were irregular and as a result‚ could not determine the true extent of irregular expenditure‚” Makwetu said. “Poor record management created an environment in which it was easy to commit and conceal improper or illegal conduct‚” he added.