Unauthorised Expenditure Reports

Meeting report

Opening Remarks

The Chairperson welcomed the attendees to the meeting and reminded his colleagues that the Committee had gone to National Treasury regarding the unauthorised expenditure. Subsequently, the Department has come in to present to the Committee affording it an opportunity to engage in the matter. Some departments, such as the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Public Service and Administration, were sent back with recommendations. The Committee is still awaiting feedback from the Department of Transport (DoT) and the Road Traffic Management. The guidance from these departments will be delivered on 28 February.

In the current meeting, the Committee will go through the batch presented to it. From there, the reports will be sent to the Standing Committee on Finance which will convene with National Treasury.

Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA)Unauthorised Expenditure Report

The Chairperson started with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). The Committee was asked to approve an unauthorised expenditure report from 2007.

Mr S Somyo (ANC) said that having been part of the discussions and the actual capturing of the minutes of the meeting, he agreed with the recommendations made in the report as it was part of the conclusion made by the Committee during the time of the deliberations.

Ms B van Minnen (DA) noted that the fact that these reports are only being addressed so late makes a mockery of the process. She urged that these matters be handled more timeously.

The Chairperson thanked her for her feedback. He added that most of these matters were only relayed by National Treasury very late in the process and he does not believe it was deliberate, but agrees that there should be a more effective way of handling unauthorised expenditure with National Treasury in the future. He asked that the Committee brainstorm ideas for this in the following meeting. There were no objections to the recommendations made in this report.

Department of Social Development Unauthorised Expenditure Report

This report covered the financial year 2019/20, with an unauthorised expenditure of R15.134 billion due to the President’s national state of disaster declaration.

Mr B Hadebe (ANC) moved for the adoption of the recommendations. Ms A Beukes (ANC) seconded this adoption.

Department of Communications and Digital Technologies Unauthorised Expenditure Report

The Chairperson asked that all the attendees refer to their own copies of the reports. This unauthorised expenditure report was for the year 2013/14 where there was an unauthorised expenditure of R4.7 million. The Committee’s recommendation read that the expenditure should be financed through a reduction of the Department’s future allocation in terms of Section 34(1)(b) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). There were no objections to the recommendation.

Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Unauthorised Expenditure Report

This was for the financial year 2011/12. There was an unauthorised expenditure of R3.88 million, which would be deducted from the Department’s future annual allocation as per the Committee’s recommendation. There were no objections to the report.

The Chairperson thanked his colleagues for attending the meeting and looked forward to seeing them where the final recommendations would be considered in the upcoming meeting.

The meeting adjourned.