It's a staggering number: R46.36-billion. That's how much money was irregularly spent by government organisations in the 2015-16 financial year. The auditor general, Kimi Makwetu, reported that these entities simply failed to adhere to supply chain management guidelines. Here's another staggering number: only 30% of government entities audited received clean audits. It is not that difficult to achieve a clean audit. Here is the auditor general's definition: "The financial statements are free from material misstatements (in other words, a financially unqualified audit opinion) and there are no material findings on reporting on performance objectives or non-compliance with legislation." This is the sort of basic accounting practice that the local coffee shop employs to pay its taxes and keep its debtors from the door.

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