The Limpopo Legislature's “watchdog”, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), is currently wrapping up its oversight duties for the 2021-22 fiscal year of all (provincial) government departments and entities, however its reports have been left wanting, making it complicit in the lack of consequence management in the province.
The DA regards the quality and detail of the reports presented by SCOPA, along with departmental responses to SCOPA resolutions, as both pathetic and sub-standard.
These documents are nothing more than a “tick box” exercise and ‘copy and paste’ responses from prior reports, with no clearly defined plan and strategy to self-correct.
The ANC executive acted reckless and with impunity in the expenditure of a R60 billion budget from the fiscus plus the provincially generated income of more than R1.5 billion in the 2021-22 financial year,.
The Report on tracking departmental responses to SCOPA indicates the indifference of the executive and their departments to the SCOPA processes.
Status of responses:
- Office of the Premier: 57%
- Department of Education: 0%
- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: 10%
- Treasury – Hearing to be finalised
- Department of Local Economic Development, Environment and Tourism: 0%
- Department of Health: 10%
- Department of Transport and Community Safety: 25%
- Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure: 11%
- Department of Sports, Arts and Culture: 17%
- Department of Co-Operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs: 0%
- Social Development: 17%
Recurring maladministration include irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure across most departments and a chronic lack of consequence management which was flagged by the Auditor-General in cases where there is a history of non-compliance of the Public Finance Management Act.
This defiance by the ruling party just confirms the DA’s longstanding view that government cannot conduct oversight on themselves - unless this changes, poor oversight mechanisms with no tangible outcomes will stay put.
The DA will continue monitor the SCOPA processes as long as the ANC executive avoids accountability for their maladministration.
Issued by Desiree van der Walt MPL - DA Provincial Spokesperson on SCOPA