LETTER: Public servants who play safe frustrate services
The auditor-general does not like deviations to the Public Finance Management Act
Lynley Donnelly’s article on Eskom’s maintenance challenges refers (“Treasury’s foot-dragging is partly to blame, says Eskom CEO”, November 17).
The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) is a mess. Does anyone remember how the SA Social Security Agency had to get a deviation from the Treasury to give the SA Post Office the tender to pay out grants? These are two state-owned entities. Mark Barnes was the Post Office CEO at the time, and he was very frustrated.
André de Ruyter is also frustrated. Most public servants who deal with the PFMA are frustrated. No-one wants to sign off deviations because the auditor-general does not like them. No-one delivers services because they are afraid of negative audit findings.
The entire system is broken. The mindset in the government is “Screw service delivery, I don’t want an audit finding against me and find my name in the newspapers.”
Odirile Mane,Via BusinessLIVE
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