Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
ANGRY MPs have refused to approve the R76 billion budget for the police after national commissioner General Riah Phiyega failed to appoint a chief financial officer (CFO) to manage the budget for months.
MPs warned Phiyega yesterday that they would not allow 11 percent of the country’s budget to be managed on an ad hoc basis. They said they viewed this matter so seriously that they would not approve the budget for 2015/16 until Phiyega has fixed the problem.
Phiyega drew the ire of the portfolio committee on police during the briefing on the budget when she told its members that she had not yet appointed the chief financial officer.
This was after the previous one, Lieutenant-General Stefan Schutte, was shifted to another position due to restructuring in the police.
Phiyega had first indicated to MPs that she did not have the timeline to make the appointment. But this elicited an angry response from members of the committee, who said she was undermining them.
Denying this, she then said she would make a written commitment on the date for the appointment.
Chairman of the committee Francois Beukman threatened that he would write to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko that the appointment had not been made, despite the post being vacant for months.
MPs said Phiyega had not even advertised the post.
ANC MP Leonard Ramatlakane said this was a serious matter that impacted on the operation of the police.
“I find it difficult to accept that, coming here commissioner, that you have not applied your mind. We are required by the act, particularly the Public Finance Management Act (to scrutinise the use of funds). We will have difficulty processing the budget.”
The committee then met behind closed doors for a brief moment to decide on the course of action. It was when the meeting resumed that Beukman announced the budget would not be approved.
“National commissioner, talk to your management team. As the portfolio committee, we are not going to deal with the approval of the budget until we deal with the issue of the CFO,” said Beukman.
He was supported by Pieter Groenewald, of the Freedom Front Plus, who said their job was to hold the police accountable on behalf of the voters.
He said it was not acceptable that the position had not been filled after such a long time. Jerome Maake, of the ANC, said this was an untenable situation as the police have been sitting on the matter for months.
“I agree that 11 percent of the budget of South Africa can’t be managed on an ad hoc basis. Somebody must be responsible,” said Maake.