Nomvula Mokonyane tries to shift blame for dire performance and irregular spending
But MPs in Scopa are not buying her story about the Department of Water and Sanitation being at the mercy of legislation and inept municipalities
Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has blamed circumstances beyond her control for her department’s dismal performance and high levels of irregular expenditure. Mokonyane finally appeared before a meeting of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday after repeated attempts to get her to account to Parliament. Scopa has demanded she provide the names of officials responsible for irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in her department, which was among the worst performers in the auditor-general’s outcomes. Mokonyane said her department had executed projects well, but they were poorly maintained by municipalities. In his 2015-16 audit report, auditor-general Kimi Makwetu said that the department had incurred fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R87.2m and irregular expenditure of R2.5bn. Scopa chairman Themba Godi said another meeting would be scheduled "as soon as possible, with a special focus on the Lepelle Northern Water contract that increa...
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