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The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs received the first special report from the Office of the Auditor-General on its real-time audit of flood relief funds in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) for the period up to 31 August 2022. According to Ms Vanuja Maharaj, the Head of Regulatory Audit at the Auditor-General and who presented the report, real-time audit information on the Eastern Cape is lacking because of slow spending in the province.
 
The committee heard that the overall response is too slow to alleviate the hardship experienced by flood victims in KZN. Ms Maharaj said that although the government responded by committing to provide temporary measures, there was a lack of urgency in assessing damage and determining needs in KZN.
 
The committee heard that slow response in KZN was due to the lack of capacity, inadequate project management and ineffective monitoring to ensure that contractors completed projects on time and delivered quality goods and services.
 
Ms Maharaj said the slow response in the Eastern Cape included damage assessments not being performed because of the backlog in assessing the impact of previous disasters dating as far back as 2013 on account of the lack of coordination between municipalities and provincial governments. As a result of that there were delays in requests for funding submitted to the Eastern Cape Provincial Disaster Operations Centre for consideration.
 
During its engagement with the AG on the report, the committee welcomed the report, but expressed concern about the slow spending and asked to see the whole actual report on the flood disaster relief funds.
 
The Deputy Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Prince Zolile Burns-Ncamashe who led the delegation, assured the committee that the department will meet with the affected municipalities and improve its response. He said it cannot be business as usual as the department is committed to restoring the dignity of those affected by the disaster.
 
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Fikile Xasa, called for coordination between all the role-players. He mentioned that as the committee has not gone on an oversight visit to KZN to see the impact of the disaster and progress achieved with the relief work, the committee is at a disadvantage when it comes to asking specific and informed questions on the real-time audit report.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Fikile Xasa