The DA in the Northern Cape has requested an urgent briefing on the state of the provincial fiscus following media reports that indicated that the Province had “run out of money”.
THE DA in the Northern Cape has requested an urgent briefing on the state of the provincial fiscus following media reports that indicated that the Province had “run out of money”.
According to Sunday papers, the Northern Cape spent R8.6 million on a presidential imbizo in Kuruman in May.
Service providers indicated that they were waiting for payments from provincial government for the past four months.
The DA spokesperson for Finance, Fawzia Rhoda, pointed out that there were a number of red flags pointing to the fact that the Province’s fiscus was under severe strain.
“There may be dire consequences for service delivery. Patients wait long hours at dilapidated clinics only to be told that there are no doctors, while medication is out of stock. Three pupils have to share a single desk without the necessary textbooks or teachers.”
She added that the auditor-general had reported that the departments of Health and Education had cash shortfalls amounting to 7.2 percent and 20 percent of next year’s budgets respectively.
“More than R19.8 billion has already been wasted in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. And while departments are supposed to take no more than 30 days to pay their bills, the Northern Cape provincial government took an average of 41.8 days to pay suppliers.”
Rhoda emphasised the importance of oversight, including in-person meetings with departments, and the need for proper consequence management, to prevent unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
“Departments must be held to account for bad financial decisions that affect service delivery.
“The people of the Northern Cape deserve to know if the provincial government can pay its bills, settle its debts and fund services.”
The spokesperson for the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Ali Diteme, provided assurances that the provincial administration “had not run out of money”.
“As with any organisation, we are in a tight fiscal situation, yet we continue to meet our financial obligations.The Department of Provincial Treasury has obtained its 9th unqualified (clean audit) with no findings. This is proof that the allegations that are made are baseless and without fact. They are meant to mislead the public with non-truths.”
He pointed out that the clean audit was a clear indication that the Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) was satisfied with the “prudent spending” of public finances by the Provincial Treasury.
“This means that all expenditure, which includes gifts, donations and sponsorships, has been investigated and audited, and nothing untoward has been found in that process.”
Diteme added that the provincial government had identified Health and Education as priorities.
“A big portion of the provincial budget goes to these departments, to ensure that service delivery is not compromised, Provincial government remains committed to assisting and nothing untoward has been found in that process.”
He indicated that provincial government was “very conscious” about the unemployment situation in the Province, especially the high youth unemployment rate.
Diteme said young graduates who were taken into the public administration as interns had “no bearing” on the fiscus as they were funded by the Provincial Treasury.
