MPs back call to give auditor-general more teeth
Irregular spending is in the spotlight, with Scopa taking Sanral and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to task
MPs have responded to auditor-general Kimi Makwetu’s latest report on government departments and entities by supporting his calls for his office to be given teeth to enforce its recommendations. "We need to investigate the powers of the AG," said Vincent Smith, chairman of the standing committee on the auditor-general. "It’s a Chapter 9 institution," he said. "Even he [Makwetu] is complaining that he brings recommendations to the table and a year down the line there is no improvement on the same matters he raised a year before." Makwetu on Wednesday announced that irregular expenditure by government departments and parastatals soared to R46.36bn in the 2015-16 financial year, as a result of their failure to adhere to procurement guidelines. The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) accounted for R13.9bn of that. The auditor-general’s report covers assessments of 484 auditees, including 196 national and provincial departments and 315 public entities with a budget of R1.2-trillion. Makw...
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