Auditor General South Africa on the 2014/15 sector outcomes

Standing Committee on Appropriations

15 April 2016
Chairperson: Mr N Gwabaza (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) toilets which the Department of Human Settlements had built were found to have so many structural defects that one had to hold on to the seat in order not to fall off, and in one instance, half a plastic ginger beer bottle had been passed off as a hand-washing installation. A company responsible for building VIP toilets had run away with a 95% payment after completing only 46% of those it was supposed to have constructed. These revelations left the Members of the Standing Committee on Appropriations shocked when the Office of the Auditor General of SA (AGSA) raised concerns over the audit outcomes of the 2014/15 period for the Departments of Health, Water and Sanitation, Basic Education, Human Settlements and Public Works.

The Basic Education Portfolio of AGSA stated that tenders were awarded to Learner Transport Scheme (LTS) contractors despite non-compliance with the requirements and supply chain management processes. There were no processes in place to ensure that funds allocated for the LTS were used for their intended purpose. Payments were made to LTS contractors without proof of claims submitted, and some were not in accordance with contract specifications. Buses had been declared unroadworthy by private and state-controlled testing centres.

Findings on identifying the needs and planning for Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) revealed that some schools had not received workbooks and supplementary textbooks at all from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) during the academic year. Due to the non-delivery and late delivery of textbooks, schools had had to make photocopies of textbooks at an extra cost. Schools had received textbooks from Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) only after the academic year had started. There were no processes in place to monitor the timeous delivery of textbooks to schools.

The Health Portfolio of AGSA, on the HIV/Aids Grant, found there were weaknesses in the design and implementation of the health information systems. Anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines were not delivered and this had resulted in shortages of the medication. The actual quantity of ARV deliveries had not tallied with the provincial distribution plans. The actual comprehensive HIV/Aids-related expenditure was not in line with the conditions of the Division of Revenue Act (DORA) framework.

Findings on Healthcare Waste management indicated that Healthcare waste was not stored in the required containers, separate from other waste. It was not disposed of in the designated area. Expired medicines were not properly managed and disposed of. The Healthcare waste was not transported in the required manner to prevent spillage or littering. Waste disposal sites were not meeting the prescribed requirements, and access to collection areas was provided to unauthorised persons.

The Water Portfolio of AGSA, regarding findings on project management, indicated that the VIP toilet project management company had not performed effective project management, and this had resulted in the certification of poor quality toilets. The project management company had not been measured against programme deliverables, and the duplication of project management functions had led to a lack of accountability. There had been an inability to clarify roles.

Concerning the provision of education and training in the maintenance and upkeep of sanitation facilities, it was reported that at 14 out of the 26 municipalities, health and hygiene
training was not done effectively. In some municipalities, the beneficiaries did not understand how the VIP toilets worked.

The Public Works Portfolio of AGSA reported that findings on project management of infrastructure projects revealed there was inadequate management information for evaluation and monitoring of projects to identify, avoid and address delays and over-spending on projects. The Department was failing to monitor infrastructure projects.

Regarding the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), there were no material findings noted at provincial departments. Challenges were, however, encountered when verifying the reliability of reported performance of the EPWP. This was attributable to two factors: inadequate records management and retention by implementing bodies, and deficiencies in the information system being used for reporting.

Members asked for clarity on the findings on the Expanded Public Works Programme regarding overstated work opportunities, due to deceased beneficiaries being reported; remarked that the AG’s Office was powerless and should be given teeth like the Public Protector; commented that the VIP toilets the Human Settlement Department had built had been poorly done and resulted in taxpayers’ money being stolen; pointed out that it was not good to justify the Health Department’s irregular expenditure in a positive light; asked the AG if there had been any challenges when it was doing the audits in terms influence being exerted by department officials when it came to reporting the findings; and wanted to know what happened to schools that did not produce financial statements.
 

Meeting report

Basic Education Sector Focus Presentation

Mr Godfrey Diale, Senior Manager, Basic Education: Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), focused his presentation on areas like infrastructure, the professional development of teachers, learner transport, school nutrition, school finance management, education material and information management.

Findings on teachers’ professional development indicated that funding needed to be allocated to education districts in order to address teacher development needs. Provincial Teacher Development Institutes (PTDI) had been already established in the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Western Cape. The Institutes had not yet been established in the other provinces.

Findings on the procuring of resources on the Learner Transport Scheme (LTS) pointed out that tenders were awarded to LTS contractors despite non-compliance with the requirements and supply chain management processes. There were no processes in place to ensure that funds allocated for LTS were used for their intended purposes. Payments were made to LTS contractors without proof of claims submitted or they were not in accordance with contract specifications. Buses were declared unroadworthy by private and state-controlled testing centres. Tenders were awarded to contractors without valid operating licences for the duration of contracts.

The provincial departments had been found to have no written policies or objectives in place to manage the LTS in the provinces’ policies or objectives. Where a performance agreement existed between the Department of Transport (DoT) and the provincial education department (PED), the performance specifications or deliverables were not stipulated. Bus drivers without drivers’ licences and public driver permits were allowed to transport learners. There was no performance agreement with regard to the LTS between the DoT and PEDs.

Findings on Heads of Education Departments Committee’s (HEDCOM’s) six priorities pointed to deficiencies in many areas like the Education Management Information System (EMIS) business plans, rolling out of the South African School Administration and Management (SA-SAMS) to all schools and training, the provincial EMIS division reporting tools and data warehousing, geographic information systems and business intelligence, and auditing the quality of data.

Findings on identifying the needs and planning for Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) revealed that schools had not received workbooks and supplementary textbooks at all from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) during the academic year. Excessive workbooks and supplementary textbooks had been received from the National Department but were kept at provinces. Workbooks and supplementary textbooks that had been ordered and delivered were in the incorrect languages or subjects. Incorrect or invalid learner numbers had been used as a basis for the ordering of LTSM. Appropriate steps to prevent over-/under-spending of the budget allocation for LTSM had not been taken. Due to the non-delivery and late delivery of textbooks, schools had to make photocopies of textbooks at an extra cost.

It was also revealed that schools had received textbooks from PEDs only after the academic year started. There were no processes in place to monitor the timeous delivery of textbooks to schools. Audit evidence could not be obtained that textbooks bought and received by the PEDs were distributed to schools.

Findings on identifying the needs and planning for the National School Nutrition Programme uncovered that nutritious meals were not provided to all learners on all school days, and they were not prepared as per the recommended menu. Food handlers did not have a valid contract with the Department or non-governmental organisation (NGO). The attendance of food handlers was not monitored by schools. Sustainable food production and nutrition education was not promoted at school level.

The Department did not monitor the implementation of the NSNP, and support was not provided to the districts. There was no audit evidence obtained to verify that meals were prepared according to the recommended food specifications and approved menu. Farm and rural schools were not allocated a higher cost to cover higher transport costs. An evaluation on the performance of the conditional grant was not done, and the unspent conditional grants at year-end were retained without the necessary approval.

With regard to the management of school finances, findings revealed that schools in provinces did not have audited financial statements, and did not use auditors who were appropriately qualified or registered.

On Basic Education infrastructure, the original needs determination documentation was not provided for audit. Findings on the procurement of contractors were included in the PEDs’ management reports. Projects were not effectively managed and monitored, and this had resulted in poor quality of infrastructure. New and upgraded schools had not been used. The targets and timeframes for routine maintenance of school infrastructure were not achieved. For the 2014/15 financial year, the infrastructure budget had been R9.8 billion. The Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) got R6.9 billion, while the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) had been allocated R2,9 billion.

The root causes for all these challenges were around inadequate attention to daily management disciplines; slow response by the political leadership and senior management; and inadequate consequences for poor performance and transgressions. The AG recommended there should be discipline in the preparation of accurate and credible monthly financial and performance reports to prevent non-compliance with laws and regulations. The leadership and senior management should continue to equip themselves with knowledge and skills they needed in order to perform their oversight and governance duties, and leadership should hold one another accountable. The leadership should set the tone by implementing sound performance management processes and evaluate and monitor the performance of officials, and demonstrate that poor performance had consequences.

Challenges facing the education sector:

  • Lack of clean audit outcomes. It was a concern that only one department (Western Cape) within the education sector had achieved a clean audit outcome during the 2014/15 period.
  • Action plans were not always implemented and monitored. Action plans did not always address root causes and recommendations provided, and did not include definite actions that needed to be implemented to address the matters.
  • Proper record keeping and availability of the evidence that supported all amounts and disclosures in the financial statements did not always take place. There was limited support provided by internal audit on proper record keeping for assurance to heads of departments (HODs).
  • Poor policy and planning: Some PEDs did not have approved and comprehensive policies and procedures for reporting on performance, and there were no links between the performance agreements and annual performance plans (APPs) to hold staff accountable for poor performance.
  • Internal audit: There was slow response by management in addressing the findings of internal audit at some PEDs and this rendered internal audit ineffective, and staffing resources in terms of vacancies, experience and skills contributed to the effectiveness of internal audit at some PEDs.
  • Budget management: The lack of financial management discipline, particularly with regard to overspending on compensation of employees, had not been addressed, and findings still existed with regard to the extent of unauthorised expenditure or material under-spending.
  • Infrastructure management: There was a lack of monitoring and oversight by the education departments over implementing agents appointed, and this resulted

in delays ranging from four months to four years and poor quality workmanship.

(A table was shown to illustrate the consolidated audit outcomes (2013/14-2014/15) for the education sector and expenditure)

Health Sector Focus Presentation

Ms Jolene Pillay, Senior Manager: Health Portfolio, AGSA, presented the service delivery findings, focusing on Healthcare Waste Management, Infrastructure, Information Systems – Network Infrastructure, and Information Systems – Billing and Revenue.

Findings on Healthcare waste management indicated that Healthcare waste was not stored in the required containers, separate from other waste. It was not disposed of in the designated area. Expired medicines were not properly managed and disposed of. The Healthcare waste was not transported in the required manner to prevent spillage or littering. The Healthcare waste disposal sites were not meeting the prescribed requirements, and access to collection areas was provided to unauthorised persons.

Pertaining to the Information Systems (Network Infrastructure), findings revealed that the information technology (IT) infrastructure at most health care facilities was outdated and did not fully support the hospital administration systems. Firewalls, patch and anti-virus management were not adequate in most of the provinces.

Environment controls were inadequately managed, especially the maintenance of an uninterruptible power supply during load shedding. Most networks were decentralised and this made it difficult to establish connectivity between hospitals and the provincial departments.

Findings on Information Systems (Billing and Revenue) statedthe  there was no interface between the revenue systems and the Basic Accounting System (BAS). The provincial departments had updated the BAS system manually. Tariff codes were not always updated annually at the beginning of April. Revenue systems were not always used due to poor connectivity and slow system response times. System downtime occurred in most provinces and there was little or no back-capturing when the systems were restored.

On the HIV/Aids Grant, it was found that there were weaknesses in the design and implementation of the health information systems. Anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines were not delivered and this resulted in shortages of the medication. The actual quantity of ARV deliveries did not agree with the provincial distribution plans. The actual comprehensive HIV/Aids related expenditure was not in line with the conditions of the Division of Revenue Act (DORA) framework. Delays in delivering the anti-retroviral medicines were not reported to the National Department of Health.

With regard to infrastructure, it was reported that projects were not effectively managed and monitored and this had resulted in poor quality infrastructure. There were delays in the completion of projects by contractors. New and upgraded health facilities were standing under-utilised and some had visible structural defects.

The Department of Health had received an unqualified opinion with findings during the 2014/15 financial period. A total of 67% of annual performance reports were reliable and useful compared to 67% in the previous year. Irregular expenditure amounted to R407.5 million, while fruitless and wasteful expenditure reached R258 000. This represented a significant increase in both irregular and fruitless expenditure. There had been no change in unauthorised expenditure.

The root causes for all these challenges were around inadequate attention to daily management disciplines; slow response by the political leadership and senior management; and vacancies in key positions.

The AG recommended that leadership and senior management should continue to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills they needed in order to perform their oversight and governance duties, and leadership should hold one another accountable. The leadership should set the tone by implementing sound performance management processes and evaluate and monitor the performance of officials, and demonstrate that poor performance had consequences. The AG further recommended that key positions be filled as soon as possible with officials who had the appropriate competencies to ensure quality financial statements and performance reports, as well as compliance with legislation.

The Minister had made some commitments in order to address the root causes. Controls would be strengthened to review and monitor compliance with legislation. A qualified chief financial officer would be recruited at the Compensation Commission for Occupational Diseases (CCOD). An electronic health patient registration system would be designed and implemented to support the reliable recording of health data.

Water Sector Focus Presentation

Mr Stephen Kheleli, Senior Manager in Water Trading Entity: AGSA, briefed the Committee about the key findings on the Rural Household Infrastructure Grant (RHIG) and Rural Household Infrastructure Programme (RHIP), audit outcomes for the 2014/15 financial period, and recommendations.

Key findings on procurement revealed vast discrepancies between scores of the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) members on functionality, and that implementing agents submitted possible complementary bids in an attempt to divide the market. The results of background and security screening were not considered.

Findings on project management indicated that the Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) toilet project management company did not perform effective project management, and this had resulted in the certification of poor quality toilets. The project management company was not measured against programme deliverables, and the duplication of project management functions had led to a lack of accountability. The toilet project management company had done only 46% of the work and had been paid for 95%. There had been an inability to clarify roles.

On non-compliance with norms and standards, 53 VIP toilets had vent pipes that were below

500mm, and 13 VIP toilets or slabs were found to be crooked and slanting. Some of the toilets were slanted so badly that one had to hold on to the seat so as not to fall off. Many VIP toilets had structural defects, where it was found that toilet rings were not securely fitted, had broken panels, were built under the trees, doors were damaged, the roofs were not water-proof, and in one case, a half a plastic bottle of Stoney ginger beer had been passed off as a hand washing installation.

Regarding the provision of education and training in the maintenance and upkeep of sanitation facilities, it was reported that at 14 out of the 26 municipalities, health and hygiene

training was not done effectively. In some municipalities, the beneficiaries did not understand how the VIP toilets worked.

The analyses of key findings revealed that the Department missed an opportunity to identify and manage its potential risk by not complying with the directive of the National Vetting Strategy. The inability to clarify roles on the project had opened the project up to inconsistent reporting and neglect.

The Office of the AG recommended that the Department should wait for background and screening results, and determine whether there was a need for the appointment of a management consultant and whether this would result in value for money. The Department should introduce an effective management tool to track delivery on site against national targets.

The Department of Water and Sanitation had received a qualified opinion with findings during the 2014/15 financial-year. Four water entities had received an unqualified opinion with findings, and one had received an unqualified opinion with no findings. Four reports had been reliable and useful compared to the three of the previous year. Six auditees that submitted information did so in time for the audit. There was no change in unauthorised expenditure. Irregular expenditure stood at R105.1 million, while fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R4.4 million.

Mr Kheleli said these audit problems could be attributed to the slow response by management in addressing the root cause of the audit outcomes; instability in key positions; and lack of consequence for poor performance and transgression.

The Office of the AG recommended that the management should implement proper record keeping to ensure that annual financial statements were supported by proper and complete records. The audit committee should strengthen action plans to ensure that financial reporting and related controls prevented misstatements, by engaging with the internal audit unit. All critical posts should be filled, and staff should be held accountable for poor performance and transgressions.

The Minister had made commitments that the focus risk assessment would be discussed by the top management and monitored by the audit committee, and would establish a structure for the Department that incorporated the sanitation function.

(Tables and graphs were shown to illustrate expenditure patterns)

Public Works Sector Focus Presentation

Ms Dipallo Shea, Senior Manager in the Public Works Portfolio: AGSA, focused her presentation on the management of accommodation for client departments, project management of infrastructure projects, and the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Findings on the management of accommodation for client departments showed that the immovable asset management plan did not address the needs of all client departments. The Department did not implement the processes and procedures to identify unused leased buildings. There was no strategy in place to address maintenance backlogs. The supply chain management processes were not followed for lease contracts. The Department’s leased buildings inspection plan was inadequate.

Findings on the project management of infrastructure projects revealed there was inadequate management information for evaluation and monitoring of projects to identify, avoid and address delays and over-spending on projects. The Department was failing to monitor infrastructure projects.

Regarding the EPWP, there were no material findings noted at provincial departments. Challenges were, however, encountered when verifying the reliability of reported performance of the EPWP. This was attributed to two factors: inadequate records management and retention by implementing bodies, and deficiencies in the information system being used for reporting. Based on the audit of EPWP projects across the country, the AG was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate supporting documentation to substantiate the creation of work opportunities reported for a large number of the projects in its sample. The following exceptions were identified:

  • Work opportunities were overstated due to deceased beneficiaries being reported.
  • Beneficiaries on the reporting system had invalid identity numbers. Therefore, the validity of the affected beneficiaries could not be corroborated with adequate supporting documentation in the form of an identity document.
  • Beneficiaries were paid below minimum wages and this resulted in non-compliance with the ministerial determination issued by the Department of Labour.

The challenges could be attributed to the slow response in addressing the root causes of findings, key vacant positions, officials lacking appropriate competencies, and poor coordination between the Public Works and client departments. The AG recommended that all audit action plans should contain deadlines and milestones, as well as the party responsible for the implementation. The internal audit had to verify the accuracy, completeness and validity of progress reported on action plans. Progress should be communicated to the Audit Committee and Portfolio Committee to enable oversight regarding the progress in resolving critical audit findings. The stabilisation of leadership and appointment of skilled officials in key positions should be expedited at affected departments, and the sector should determine the ideal ratio of project managers to projects and ensure all departments appointed project managers with the necessary credentials to bridge the existing gap.

Challenges facing the Public Works sector:

  • poor coordination between the Public Works and client departments meant that accurate accommodation needs could not be met;
  • the quality and monitoring of projects was not to the desired standards;
  • capacity constraints remained a challenge for the sector;
  • effective, efficient and economic lease management was still a challenge;
  • budgetary constraints were playing a part as well, given the more competitive remuneration offered by the private sector to critically scarce skilled professionals, such as engineers, project managers, and architects

Human Settlements Sector Focus Presentation

Human Settlements Sector Focus Presentation

Mr Ahmed Moola, Senior Manager in Human Settlements Portfolio: AGSA, based his presentation on focus areas like compliance with legislation in respect of the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG), management of individual subsidies, and management of transfer and advance payments to municipalities and contractors.

On compliance with legislation – HSDG -- the actual human settlements development-related expenditure was not in line with the conditions of the DORA framework. The final provincial business plans had not been submitted to the National Department by 7 February 2015. The planned expenditure for the current and next financial year (2016/17) had not been published in the Gazette. The Department had not ensured the effective and efficient use of the housing subsidy system by the municipalities.

Regarding the management of individual subsidies, it had been found that subsidies to beneficiaries did not comply with the specified entry requirements and they included applications that were not approved after the date of death.

Concerning the management of transfer and advance payments to municipalities and contractors, there had been non-achievement of targets, and payments made for houses with quality had not been according to specific requirements. There was limited monitoring and control over projects and the completion thereof.

Root causes were attributed to the slow response by management to addressing matters previously reported; inadequate consequences for poor performance and transgressions; and ineffective monitoring and inspection of housing projects, as this leads to defects that are not identified and the beneficiaries get poor quality houses.

(Due to time constraints the Committee asked Mr Moola not to present the overall audit outcomes and risk areas)

Discussion

Mr A McLoughlin (DA) commented that the Committee should be leading the money, and not following it. In practically every department there was a lack of management systems and monitoring. Money had been stolen. They performed at a mediocre level at best. The money was being followed too late. He asked for clarity on the findings on the Expanded Public Works Programme regarding overstated work opportunities due to deceased beneficiaries reported. He said there had been standardisation in the building of schools, but during an oversight visit, they had been alarmed by something called virtual completion. He wanted to know why the Provincial Teacher Development Institutes (PTDIs) had been established only in Limpopo, Gauteng and Western Cape. Why was there inconsistency in the Learner Transport Scheme, because in some provinces it fell under the Department of Transport, while in others it was under the Education Department. Lastly, he remarked that the AG’s Office was powerless. He said it should be given teeth like the Public Protector. The AG’s Office presented only the findings and nothing happened after that.

Ms Shea said AGSA had discovered that deceased people were recorded as EPWP beneficiaries. Their identity numbers had been compared with those from Home Affairs, and it was discovered that those people had died long time ago.

Mr Diale, regarding the standardisation in the building of schools and virtual completion, explained that on costing it did not appear to work the same way. It differed from province to province because there were a number of factors that came to the fore, depending on the project management plans. He explained that virtual completion referred to a certain percentage of money that was not paid to the service provider after building the school. This was done to make sure everything was done perfectly and there were no defects that remained unfixed. After a while, the service provider got the outstanding money. Concerning the PTDIs in Limpopo, Gauteng and Western Cape, he said the other provinces had only made interventions, while the three provinces had fully functional institutes. He reported that the Learner Transport Scheme was not being managed consistently. The Basic Education Department was responsible for it, because it monitored its function. It was not understandable why it fell under the Department of Transport in other provinces. However, if there was collaboration between the two departments, then it was fine as long as there was an agreement in place.

Mr M Shaik-Emam (NFP) remarked that the VIP toilets the Human Settlement Department had built, had been a job poorly done. The taxpayers’ money had been stolen. The Department needed to go back and investigate all the contractors that had not delivered on mandates given to them, because the owners of those companies had become instant millionaires. He further wanted to know if it was not better to have inside implementing agents, because it appears to him that the contractors did only what they wanted to do. They do only 46% of the work, and take 95% of the money. He was not surprised that the Department of Water and Sanitation had got red flags all over. In the Eastern Cape, corruption was found to be rife. It was wrong to continue to pay people who were not doing their work. He blamed the Opposition parties for not speaking with one voice about corruption and consequence management. Concerning health, he said it was good progress to learn the Department was going to have an IT system in place, but the National Department was failing to crack the whip on non-performing provinces.

Mr Vusi Msibe, Corporate Executive: AGSA, with regard to implementing agents, he elaborated there is a lack of capacity, competences, and monitoring. Even from the departments there is a lack of internal controls. The implementing agencies are not funded until the work has started. Giving them money before doing the work is not allowed.

Ms Nomsa Mlotshwa, Senior Manager in Performance Audit Infrastructure Specialist: AGSA, regarding the in-house implementing agents, stated that most departments use the same implementing agents and one of them is a state-owned entity. Some times it is not necessary to monitor them because they are supposed to know what they are doing.

Ms S Shope-Sithole (ANC) commented that the AG is here to open our eyes. Now we know the weaknesses of the departments. We are armed. The Committee needs to decide what to do with the reports. Its job is to follow the money. It is SCOPA that is going to punish the offenders. The Committee needs to make recommendations to the Parliament, which has to follow the government business. Before the departments come to present to the Committee, Members need to study the AG reports of the previous year to see if the departments have followed the AG’s recommendations.

Ms E Louw (EFF) remarked that Mr Shaik-Emam must not blame the Opposition parties for the workings of the government. It was the government of the day that had failed to plan and monitor. That was not the position of the EFF. The Committee needed to change the way it was doing things. There was nothing that showed that the Committee wanted to help the departments to get better. The Committee needed to rethink its work. The AG had no bite, especially if one wanted to see improvements.

She also commented it was not good to justify irregular expenditure at the Health Department in a positive light. People must know it was a serious thing. It could not be condemned and, at the same time, allowed. It was pointless to come up with findings, and then there was no bite from the AG. She asked the AG if there had been any challenges when it was doing the audits in terms of influence from departmental officials when it came to reporting the findings. Lastly, she wanted to know what happened to schools that did not produce financial statements.

Ms Pillay said that when it came to irregular expenditure, the intention was to clarify, not to downplay. The management should take that information and see if there had been fraud.

Mr Diale said that schools not producing financial statements remained a big challenge. Non-compliance was reported to the AG. The provincial education department had to make interventions. In some situations, it had been observed that provinces had made use of auditing companies to help the schools.

Mr Kheleli, with regard to influence when reporting on findings, said there were many separate levels of reviews, and there was also an external service provider to review the work before signing it off. There were many controls at different levels, so it was difficult for there to be influence.

Ms D Senokoanyane (ANC) commented that the Committee had a mammoth task. Things were happening that were not supposed to be happening, and these things were happening in departments that received huge chunks of the budget. There was no monitoring, yet there were large amounts involved in projects. The leadership was failing and it was not clear why there were no performance agreements with the leaders of the departments. Lastly, there was no compliance with legislation, yet there were mechanisms in place. She found it hard to understand why appointed contractors could not be monitored while they were doing their work.

The Chairperson remarked that hiked invoices from the service providers came to the departments during the audit time -- that was in the last quarter of the financial year. He asked if there were underlying reasons for this, because it was not understandable why a service provider would wait for that long.

Ms Nomsa Mlotshwa explained that many things happened when a project was running. For example, some service providers wanted to see a million rand reflected in their accounts. They did not want to be paid in dribs and drabs. They would rather wait until the work was done. However, one could verify when an inspection was done according to the timeline schedule. There was no way that a person who performed badly could hike an invoice. The 30-day period still applied. In infrastructure projects, project management was not good enough and there were deficiencies in budget management. It was always ensured that goods were received before invoices were paid.

The meeting was adjourned.

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