Limpopo’s R3 billion wasteful expenditure sets tongues wagging

The Limpopo provincial government and the Democratic Alliance (DA) are wrangling over the province’s poor audit outcome, which saw the province accumulating billions of rands in irregular expenditure last financial year.

The brouhaha over the audit started last week Wednesday after the Office of the Auditor-General (AG) announced that the province had accumulated over R3.4 billion in irregular expenditure.

The AG’s report showed a significant increase in irregular expenditure and non-compliance to the supply chain management legislation.

The report showed that irregular expenditure continued to increase rapidly to R3.4 billion last financial year from R2.8 billion in 2018-2019. Worse, two of the province’s entities made the list of top 10 highest irregular expenditure nationally, with the department of cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs (COGHSTA) as well as Road Agency Limpopo (RAL) having incurred irregular expenditure amounting to R1.19 billion and R1.171 billion respectively.

ALSO READ: Better, but not best: AG report shows irregular spending improvements

Education also accumulated R329 million in irregular expenditure while Great North Transport reached R237 million. Limpopo had only 13% compliance with supply chain management legislation.

The report further revealed that the province had recorded a high amounts of deficit at R1.7 billion. Nine auditees (60%) showed a deficit for the year as their total expenditure exceeded their total revenue.

But not all was doom and gloom. Some of the province’s departments shone in their audit outcomes – a move that brought a sigh of relief to many in the province.

The provincial treasury, Limpopo legislature, Limpopo Gambling Board and the department of transport and community safety got the nods from the AG after they each received unqualified audit opinions with no findings.

For the past two financial years, Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha has been under harsh criticisms after his administration performed dismally in the books of the AG.

Now a wave of jubilation has sailed throughout the province, with many organisations and ordinary citizens praising him for “good leadership”.

Mathabatha was appointed premier in 2012 after former premier, Cassel Mathale, was shown the door by former President Jacob Zuma. This after the province collapsed, owing to poor financial management.

ALSO READ: 12% of govt, SOEs still not improving, says Auditor-General 

During an indaba held at Meropa Casino last week, Mathabatha said his administration was now in good financial health after it was resurrected from the 2011 Section 101, which saw six of the province’s provincial departments placed under administration.

Speaking during the official opening, social development MEC Nkakareng Rakgoale, who was holding the fort for Mathabatha – who was attending an ANC NEC meeting in Johannesburg said: “We have completely eliminated the R1.7 billion overdraft which was accumulated before December 2011, and more importantly, the reduced of R2.7 billion unauthorised expenditure. In light of this, we can confidently say Limpopo is finally back on its financial footing.”

But not everyone was happy about the province’s performance.

DA provincial leader, Jacque Smalle, said Mathabatha must heed the call and adopt a culture of zero tolerance towards transgressions and hold responsible officials, whose departments performed dismally, accountable.

“Mathabatha must also hold MECs to account in line with the service level agreements they signed. The province deserves clean audits,” he said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) reserved its comment, saying it was still studying the report.
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