Cape Town - Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu has warned that irregular expenditure has increased from R50 billion to R61bn in both national and provincial departments.
Makwetu told the joint committees on appropriations and public accounts on Wednesday that the government needs to rein in departments and State-owned entities who were involved in irregular expenditure. He also urged them to use funds appropriately.
He said the biggest culprits were KwaZulu-Natal with R12bn in irregular expenditure, the national government with R11bn and Gauteng with R7bn.
Makwetu said irregular expenditure has been a perennial problem for many years.
He told MPs they would now be able to go directly to the offending entities that have contributed significantly to the irregular expenditure. “When we try to address this irregular expenditure, it is not advisable to go everywhere because the concentration is identified,” said Makwetu.
He said irregular expenditure happened in supply chain management where officials deviated from procurement rules and procedures.
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts has previously warned that procurement was the fertile ground for corruption, saying people were left off the hook despite flouting laws in the awarding of tenders worth millions of Rands.
The Anti-Corruption task team has been accused of failing to act against corrupt officials, but National Prosecuting Authority head Shamila Batohi told Parliament last week they were now reviving the task team.
She said she was also working closely with the head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya.