Language board blew R100m

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Published Mar 4, 2015

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Durban - The new board of the Pan South African Language Board has lifted the lid in Parliament on how the organisation blew almost R100 million on salaries for dozens of senior managers on a bloated structure, legal costs on infighting among staff members and budget overruns.

The board briefed MPs on its parlous state during a meeting with the portfolio committee on arts and culture on Tuesday.

The new board, which was appointed in April last year, told MPs it was tightening the purse strings and had fired 44 senior managers, saving R24m in salaries and cutting down on legal costs, which had escalated to R21m in five years.

The chairman of the board, Professor Mbulungeni Madiba, also told the committee that the organisation had exceeded its budget by almost R40m in four years.

But it had implemented measures that would drastically reduce the costs, starting with the axing of the 44 managers because their contracts were invalid.

Also, the managers were part of a bloated structure that the organisation did not need.

“The new board is finding the organisation at a very low base. To us, the organisational structure was bloated,” said Madiba.

He also told the committee that those senior managers, at the level of chief directors and directors, had taken them to court to challenge their dismissal.

The matter has not yet been finalised in court.

Madiba also revealed that the organisation had spent R21m in the past five years on legal fees because staff members were suing each other. He did not elaborate on the cases.

From 2011 until 2014, the organisation had a budget deficit of R38m because of overexpenditure.

While in 2010/11 it was given a budget of R53.5m, it spent R61m in that financial year. This meant the organisation exceeded its budget by R7m.

During the 2011/12 financial year it was allocated R57.9m, but spent R56m.

In 2012/13 the organisation had a budget of R69.4m, but used R84.4m. This led to a budget shortfall of R15m.

During the 2013/14 financial year, it had a budget shortfall of R14m after it was given a budget of R78m, but spent R92.3m.

On the bloated structure, Madiba said there were too many managers that were not needed.

In the past, the organisation had a lean management structure, but that was changed in 2012, leading to the hiring of more senior managers.

The financial woes of the organisation had led to a damning audit opinion by the auditor-general.

“The audit report was clear that we had many problems. We had a disclaimer. When we met with the auditor-general, he said he could not make an opinion (on the organisation’s books). There was a problem,” said Madiba.

They were leading an organisation that was battling to survive.

After 10 years of clean audit opinions, the organisation’s situation had deteriorated in the past five years to a sorry state of affairs, said Madiba.

Instead of implementing a turnaround plan, it had not done so.

Madiba said they were now trying to fix everything that was wrong.

The Mercury

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