ATC240229: Second report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the unauthorised expenditure of the Department of Telecommunications and Digital Technologies dated 14 February 2024

Public Accounts (SCOPA)

Second report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the unauthorised expenditure of the Department of Telecommunications and Digital Technologies dated 14 February 2024.

 

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (the Committee) considered and heard evidence on the unauthorised expenditure of the Department of Telecommunications and Digital Technologies in relation to the 2013/14 financial year, and reports as follows:

 

1. Background

 

The Department of Telecommunication and Digital Technology has an unauthorised expenditure amount of R4.741 million, for the 2013/2014 financial year.

 

2. Unauthorised expenditure incurred in 2013/14: R4. 741 million

 

The unauthorised expenditure in 2013/14 comprises the following items per economic classification:

 

a) Between December 2012 (at the time of preparing the 2013 Appropriation Bill) and March 2014, the rand depreciated by 21 percent against the US Dollar. Membership fees to international organisations are charged in US Dollars.

b) As a result, the department incurred unauthorised expenditure of R4.741 million in Programme 2: International Affairs in 2013/14 for membership fees to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), African Telecommunications Union (ATU), Pan African Postal Union (PAPU), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO).

 

3.  Recommendation

 

In line with the provisions of section 34(1) of the PFMA, the Committee recommends that the unauthorised expenditure should be financed as a reduction of the Department’s future allocation in terms of section 34(1)(b) of the PFMA, 1999

 

4. Conclusion

The Committee further recommends that the Auditor-General should follow up on all matters raised above and report thereon in its audit outcome on unauthorised expenditure after the end of the 2023/24 financial year.

Report to be considered.