Social development gets clean audit

Auditor-General Terence Nombembe

Auditor-General Terence Nombembe

Published Oct 9, 2013

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Johannesburg - The social development department has received a clean audit report for 2012/2013, spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant said on Wednesday.

“The Auditor General found that the department achieved an overall spending rate of 99.1 percent for the financial year,” she said in a statement.

Most of the department's annual budget of over R112 billion went towards social assistance.

Oliphant said although R999 million for the payment of social grants was not transferred, this did not reflect under-spending.

“This was occasioned by the fact that expenditure projections are done in such a manner that will ensure there is not a shortfall to pay current and prospective beneficiaries that will enter the system,” she said.

She said social assistance continued to form an important part of the government's strategy to fight poverty, inequality, and unemployment.

“During the year under review, social grant beneficiaries increased to 16,106,110, thus protecting thousands more households and millions of children from abject poverty.”

She said that although the number of beneficiaries had increased, the government had made savings on social grant payments through SA Social Security Agency initiatives to clean up fraud through the re-registration process.

Oliphant said Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini was satisfied with the department's performance.

Sapa

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