ATC150618: Sixth Report of The Committee on Public Accounts on the Report of the Auditor General on the annual report and financial statements of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation for the 2013/14 financial year, dated 20 May 2015.

Public Accounts (SCOPA)

Sixth Report of The Committee on Public Accounts on the Report of the Auditor General on the annual report and financial statements of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation for the 2013/14 financial year, dated 20 May 2015.
 

1. Introduction

 

The Committee on Public Accounts (the Committee) heard evidence on and considered the content of the Annual Report and the Report of the Auditor-General (A-G) on the 2013/14 financial statements of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (the Department). The Committee noted the qualified audit opinion, highlighted areas which require the attention of the Accounting Officer, and reports as follows:

 

2. Supply Chain management

 

The Auditor-General identified the following:

a)     Management did not take effective steps to prevent irregular expenditure as per the requirements of section 38(1)(c)(ii) of the PFMA and Treasury Regulation (TR) 9.1.1;

1. Contracts and quotations were awarded to bidders who did not submit a declaration on whether they are employed by the state or connected to any person employed by the state, which is prescribed in order to comply with TR 16A8.3; and
2. Competitive bidding processes and request for three quotations were not adhere to, as prescribed by Treasury Regulation 16A6.1.

 

The Committee recommends that the Accounting Officer ensures that:

 

1. The Department strengthens its internal control systems in order to avoid incurring further irregular expenditure;
2. The Department follows at all times Treasury Regulations and Practice Notes in the awarding of bids;
3. There are regular reviews of supply chain management activities to ensure     compliance; and
4. Officials who approved bids that did not comply with legal prescripts are held accountable.

 

3. Human Resource Management

 

The Auditor-General identified the following:

1. Certification of employees on the payroll report not performed before the payment date;
2. Medical certificates not provided for the sick leave taken as required by Determination and Directive on Leave of Absence in the Public Service;
3. No assessment of employees who are  conditionally granted incapacity leave as required by Determination and Directive on Leave of Absence in the Public Services; and
4. Incapacity leave conditionally granted exceeds 30 days and not approved within 30 days as required by Determination and Directive on Leave of Absence in the Public Service.

 

The Committee recommends that the Accounting Officer ensures that:

 

1. A monitoring system is developed that will address the inadequacy of performance information and such a system is frequently reviewed in order to address any gaps that are identified;
2. HR Management should  ensure that the monitoring controls on policies are adhers to the requirements; and
3. HR Management should ensure that the Department complies with the Determination and Directive on leave of absence in the public service of August 2012 paragraph 15.8 on incapacity leave and ensure that investigations are conducted within 30 days.

 

4. Information technology controls

 

The Auditor-General identified the following:

1. The weakness on security management;
2. User access management controls were not effective;
3. Disaster recovery plan was inadequately documented; and
4. Significant backup failures were experienced at times.

The Committee recommends that the Accounting Officer ensures that:

 

1. An effective IT governance framework should be developed; and
2. The access control security is strengthened to ensure that no unathourised access takes place.

 

5. Conclusion

 

The Committee recommends that the Executive Authority submits a progress report on the implementation of all the above recommendations to the National Assembly within 60 days of the adoption of this report by the House.

 

The Committee is concerned about commitment by the department to resolve the asset issues especially in the missions and request update report.

 

The Committee further recommends that the Accounting Officer submits quarterly reports on all the above-mentioned recommendations.

 

Report to be considered