EDITORIAL: A tragedy of fiscal failure foretold
Dutiful financial management isn’t even on the radar of many of our so-called public servants, let alone accountability for messing it up
Another week, another gruesome blood-splattered economic report on the state of SA. In the past week, this particular honour was bestowed on auditor-general Kimi Makwetu’s report on national and provincial governments and their associated entities. It’s nothing less than a paean to financial laxity.The numbers alone are testament to a government whose book-balancing abilities would seem to be less about balance and more about making book — gambling with the country’s future.At a quick glance: irregular expenditure clocked in at R62.6bn last year — 21% higher than the previous year. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R849m last year, part of a five-year running total of R4.1bn. And nearly a third of public entities, together, made a combined loss (or deficit) of R62bn, as their spending exceeded their income. All of which is money that we’re probably never getting back.This year, for the first time, Makwetu was given the mandate to report on the rather innocuous-sounding ...
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