Cape Town - The Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation has revealed that irregular expenditure amounts to almost R10 billion.
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Susan Shabangu, who is the chairperson of the newly established Advisory Committee on the Stabilisation and Efficient Functioning of the Water Sector, revealed this during the department’s presentation to Parliament’s portfolio committee on human settlements and water and sanitation on Thursday. They also discussed the status of investigations and disciplinary actions.
Shabangu said the exact amount was R9 707 374 464.
In relation to forensic investigations for the 2020/21 financial year, Shabangu said 72 cases were received by internal audit. Thirty investigations have been completed, 19 cases were in progress, and 23 cases have not yet been investigated.
At the beginning of the meeting, Sisulu said the department was taking measures to root out corruption.
She said the Auditor-General (AG) indicated his concern that there was no consequence management in government departments, in particular the department of water and sanitation.
“We had in the meantime established an advisory committee which would serve as a disciplinary committee to ensure that we are able to respond to the concerns of the AG, who indicated that he is very worried at the fact that there is no consequence management in the departments, and in particular the department of water and sanitation.
“In our interaction with AG, he said our biggest problem is that there is no follow through with his findings on matters, which he finds absolutely essential. This affects the AG’s confidence in our ability to run our department efficiently.
“In my budget vote, I indicated that we had established an entity that would be able to deal with these matters. In order to stabilise the department, we had to root out corruption,” said Sisulu.
Political Bureau