KZN floods: Report into R1bn relief funds might be released in August

Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke has informed Parliament that the report into how funds are used for provinces that were hit by floods could be released in August.

Maluleke appeared before Parliament’s Ad-Hoc Joint Committee on Flood Disaster Relief and Recovery on Wednesday to brief MPs on her office’s work in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

The mandate of the committee is to oversee the response and implementation of the relief measures by the government, and is expected to lapse in November.

Responsibility

During the virtual meeting, the auditor-general said real-time audits would be conducted to ensure the R1 billion allocated as a relief effort in the wake of floods in KZN, Eastern Cape and North West is not looted.

She said politicians had an oversight responsibility of guarding the funds although the first line of defence lay with officials, who are meant to protect them.

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“There are a number of different players in this ecosystem, but I want to start by highlighting that the key responsibilities for accountability start with those that run government. [This starts] with the accounting officers, together with their staff, officials, senior managers and supported by the internal auditors.

“They are trusted with the responsibility of safe guarding resources and deploying [these] resources so that they fulfil the intended purpose,” she said.

“We have got to rely on the provincial government and their role to support the process of safeguarding resources and of course there are also responsibilities that will sit at the national level as well,” the auditor-general added.

Real-time audits

Given that there were concerns about looting, Maluleke said the real-time audits were aimed at preventing and detecting weaknesses in controls, which also enables immediate oversight.

“In the context of this disaster, there has been a concern by many across society that public funds should be protected and that the response initiatives are not only designed to respond to the needs, but are implemented appropriately.

“We shared a series of real-time audits that respond to key risks relating to procurement and contract management and, in this regard, we will look at not only compliance with laws and regulations, but we will extend our audit work so that we consider matters related to value for money.

READ MORE: Parliament committee on KZN floods to look into climate change, relief funds spending

“We will consider whether goods and services have been delivered at the right place, at the right time, and at the right quality. We will also look at whether benefits reached the intended beneficiaries,” she said.

Regarding the turnaround time for the audit report, Maluleke said her office aimed to have it by August.

“We aim to have a report to you around August of this year. It remains our hope that we will be able to get there… it’s a moving space and I’m sure you will see it when you get to visit physically,” she said.

2020 looting

Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele also briefed the committee on Monday, saying government did not want a repeat of 2020 when Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) funds were looted.

“The president would have upfront spoken about ensuring that we avoid what happened in 2020,” he told MPs.

ALSO READ: KZN still waiting for Treasury to cough up R1 billion flood relief funds

Floods that hit parts of KZN early in April, affected more than 75,000 people and left 445 people dead.

Government has since declared a national state of disaster to respond to the deluge in KZN.

According to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the national state of disaster is likely to last for up to three months.

The recovery effort is expected to cost at least R25 billion.