The Independent Democrats (ID) Parliamentary Leader Joe Mcgluwa says the ever increasing wasteful expenditure of R20-billion revealed in the latest Auditor-General’s report for the 2010/2011 financial year calls for stricter rules and to hold accounting officers to account.
 

The misused of public funds within national and provincial departments across the country is a direct link to the poor financial chaos currently existing at local government level.
 

‘Year after year the Auditor-General’s report on provincial and national government audit outcomes reflects not only the same failures but the increase of billions of cash wasted at the expense of the poor,’ says Mr Mcgluwa.
 

‘It is sad that the 3 spheres of government are been weaken by those earning exorbitant salaries with a report indicating that under-performance and incompetence is the major problem.
 

Section 76(4) (a) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) states that accounting officers should act in good faith. When losses or damages through acts committed or omitted by an official accounting officers must within 30 days recover the amount or loss and if officials fail to reply with the request, the matter must be handed to the State Attorney.
 

The ID will monitor whether the recovery of loses and damages resulting from irregular expenditure are being dealt with in accordance regulation 12 of the PMFA.
 

‘While Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, the leader of government business, still proposes a toast on behalf of the poor, we will submit a question to him on the mechanisms in place to prevent the reoccurrence of exorbitant expenditure,’ Mcgluwa says.
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For media enquiries, contact Joe Mcgluwa on 084 213 3811