AG blames unstable systems and ill-discipline for poor Covid relief delivery

Government initiatives to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown were undermined by the state’s failure to have stable systems and discipline in place.

Instead, these initiatives landed in an environment of compromised internal controls which minimised their effectiveness.

This is according to auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke, who on Wednesday published the second audit on Covid-19 funds, covering the period up to the end of October.

She said government initiatives could have run more effectively had there been better controls in different government spheres.

“We could have reached much more people, much more quickly and in a much more efficient way,” she said.

“What we are highlighting is that, but for the weaknesses that were inherent in the systems, in the processes and in the disciplines, we could have achieved much more with the investment that was put in place.

“It doesn’t mean that 8,000 water tanks were not delivered. They were delivered at a time of crisis, at a time they were most needed, but if our processes were better, we could have got much more out of this major effort,” said Maluleke.

While releasing the first Covid-19 audit report three months ago, then auditor-general Kimi Makwetu raised concerns about pre-existing deficiencies in how procurement was managed. He said this was going to compromise the implementation of the different programmes meant to mitigate the effects of the lockdown.

We could have reached much more people, much more quickly and in a much more efficient way.

—  Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke

Maluleke said they indeed had started to see non-compliance in the procurement of goods and services related to these initiatives.

“We talked about poor record-keeping, which remained a common feature in many of the environments that we audited. This was of particular concern because we were auditing in real time.

“We were auditing within 60 or 90 days of transactions being put through the accounting records, and we were still struggling to find documentation to support the transactions,” she said.

This, she said, indicated that come the end of the financial year, the inability to produce credible financial information, reliable performance information and to demonstrate compliance in how public funds were spent, would make that evidence difficult to find.

“We highlighted then that there was a pre-existing inability to coordinate and manage different initiatives across different institutions of government in a way that was cohesive, adequately monitored and overseen so that what is designed is consistent with what is ultimately implemented.

“At that time we also talked about how our review of different transactions across different data sets of government highlighted that there was a need to maintain and integrate databases even better so that, again, the initiative as designed is consistent with what is implemented,” she added.

She said their findings and red flags were informed by having looked across the different databases, and raising concerns about the need for quality databases that are appropriately integrated throughout the different institutions of the state.

“We also talked about the need for greater agility in the information technology systems that are being used in different government departments.

“We said that these initiatives landed in an environment of compromised internal controls, and if we do not fix those internal controls, it is likely that the initiatives would not result in the intended benefit,” said Maluleke.

The auditor-general audited initiatives that covered social and economic relief packages.

What I do not want us to lose sight of is that many of these initiatives were designed and implemented very quickly.

They found that SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) had spent R31bn up to the end of September delivering benefits to vulnerable households throughout the country.

Maluleke said 5.26 million people benefited from the Covid-19 special relief grant, 11.8 million people and their families benefited from the top-up grant, and a number of their families benefited from food parcels.

“What I do not want us to lose sight of, is that many of these initiatives were designed and implemented very quickly and were designed and implemented in a context of emergency, where not everybody was at their desks. And they were still able to reach many beneficiaries across the system,” she said.

She said the message that the risk associated with rapid implementation within a compromised control environment remains relevant.

“The effectiveness of our initiatives is compromised because we do not have stable disciplines and controls in government.

“Some of our initiatives did not achieve the success they should have, because we don’t have appropriate levels of discipline in planning, monitoring and in coordinating the efforts of different players across the state,” said Maluleke.

The AG previously revealed that state employees, prisoners and even dead people were benefiting from some of the schemes the government introduced for the poor.

The AG found that R95.84bn (65%) of the R148.06bn her office was auditing had been spent by September 30 2020, with most initiatives completed or close to completion, while some had been abandoned or redirected.