MPs refuse to approve R76bn cop budget

Police commissioner General Riah Phiyega.

Police commissioner General Riah Phiyega.

Published Apr 16, 2015

Share

Pretoria - Angry MPs have refused to approve the R76 billion budget of the police after SAPS commissioner General Riah Phiyega failed - for months - to appoint a chief financial officer to manage the budget.

MPs warned Phiyega on Wednesday that they would not allow 11 percent of the country’s budget (the R76bn allocated to police), 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.

She drew the ire of the portfolio committee on police, during the briefing on the budget, when she told its members she had not yet appointed a chief financial officer.

This was after the previous chief financial officer, Lieutenant-General Stefan Schutte, was shifted to another position due to restructuring.

Committee chairman Francois Beukman and members of his committee all concurred they would not pass the budget until the situation had been attended to.

Phiyega had first indicated to MPs that she did not have the timeline to make the appointment. But this elicited an angry response from committee members, who said she was undermining them.

But Phiyega said she was not undermining the committee, or the importance of the matter. She then said she would make a written commitment on the date for the appointment of the new CFO. Beukman threatened to write to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko that the CFO has not been appointed despite the post being vacant for months.

MPs said Phiyega had not even advertised the post. She said the position of CFO was not the only vacant post. The SAPS had filled other vacant posts, except for a few including that of CFO, she said.

ANC MP Leonard Ramathlakane said this serious matter affected the operation of the police. “I find it difficult to accept that, commissioner, you have not applied your mind. We are required by the Public Finance Management Act (to scrutinise the use of funds). We will have difficulty processing the budget.”

The portfolio committee then briefly met behind closed doors to decide on the course of action.

When the meeting resumed, Beukman announced they would not approve the budget of the police until this matter had been resolved.

“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 voters.

Jerome Maake, of the ANC, said the police had been sitting on the matter for months, adding: “11 percent of the budget can’t be managed on an ad hoc basis. Somebody must be responsible.”

Pretoria News

Related Topics: