The Gauteng human settlements department has launched investigations after the auditor-general (AG) found that it spent R1.4bn in unlawful expenditure on unsolicited bids.
The AG also found that more than R400m was spent on security without the proper supply chain process being followed and that the department entered into other financial commitments worth more than R2.5bn without following due procurement processes in the last financial year.
The department was among the province's worst transgressors as it recorded R3.9bn in irregular expenditure, which, according to the AG, was due to noncompliance with procurement regulations and weak internal controls.
A senior official has been suspended as disciplinary action is under way to address spending irregularities after the AG named the department as one of the biggest offenders when it comes to irregular and wasteful expenditure in the recent audit outcomes.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, Tasneem Motara, who took over as MEC after the general elections, said all transactions that were flagged by the AG were being attended to as investigations were launched with remedial action under way.
The biggest noncompliance for the department was on the irregular extension of multiyear projects or contracts without following due process in terms of the Public Finance Management Act.
“All multiyear contracts [that the department has] have now been put through a regularisation process. Just to be on the safe side, whether there were findings [by the AG], we've subjected all multiyear projects to the same process,” Motara said.
Motara said in some instances officials in the department were “taking things for granted” and extended some contracts without due regard to processes.
“If your control environment is weak, policies are there as a control measure, but what happened in the department in the previous five years or before that, there was very little control in place,” Motara said.
She said policies were very weak, outdated, and some officials were negligent in exercising their duties which allowed them to flaunt processes.
We have had some dismissals, we've had quite a number of disciplinary processes, and that does send the correct message that officials must not take things for granted and that they should be mindful at every point of their decision-making processes
— Tasneem Motara, Gauteng human settlements MEC
“We have had some dismissals, we've had quite a number of disciplinary processes, and that does send the correct message that officials must not take things for granted and that they should be mindful at every point of their decision-making processes,” she said.
Motara said a deputy director in the finance unit was still on suspension and two senior officials have been dismissed.
“Where the AG flagged and said this needs to be corrected, we not only correct that but also look at where things are similar and may be at risk of falling into the same category with what has been flagged by the AG,” Motara said.
She said much attention was being put into the Gauteng housing fund, which was a big source of their problem and a stumbling block towards achieving a clean audit.
Motara said she was confident that the department was slowly turning the corner as issues have not been picked up in the current financial year.
Despite the dire picture of irregular and wasteful expenditure, the AG remarked that accounting officers at the provincial human settlements department had improved their monitoring of performance against set targets which enhanced the quality of their reporting.
The department achieved an unqualified audit opinion for the second year in a row despite the issues of financial noncompliance.
Motara said among her immediate focus areas is handing over title deeds to families living in apartments or houses which were still under the department, including those in flats in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg.
She said she has given herself two years to complete the project of handing over the title deeds to those living in Eldorado Park flats.
Motara believes that addressing issues in the housing fund would lead to the achievement of a clean audit.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng Standing Committe on Public Accounts has announced that it will be focusing on monitoring delayed infrastructure projects, particularly in healthcare and housing, to ensure timely completion.
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