The budget and outcomes cited in the question relate to 2012/13 financial year as published in the Budget Review 2013. Public sector infrastructure budgets have increased significantly over the past 10 years, from R89.8 billion in 2005/06 to R262.4 billion in 2014/15. In some instances, capital budgets have grown faster than the capacity to spend. In addition, some projects experience implementation difficulties resulting in underspending. Despite this, inflation-adjusted infrastructure spend has more than doubled over the past 5 years.
Underspending of funds implies that projects may not be delivered on time and on budget, and the expected outcomes may be delayed. In some cases additional financial resources may be needed to complete the project. National Treasury has not undertaken any specific investigation in this regard. However, it closely monitors these matters on an on-going basis. When there is underspending at any level of government, the Accounting Officer for the relevant institution is responsible for taking appropriate action to address the situation. Every Accounting Officer ultimately has to account to Parliament. National Treasury plays an active role in building capacity and ensuring that resources are deployed appropriately to drive capital spending across all three spheres of government.
In addition to this government has put in place many programmes to improve infrastructure spending. For instance: