Chairperson, the DA will not support the Budget Vote for Home Affairs. The Minister, during her Budget Vote debate, acknowledged that she has been misled by department officials. The person directly accountable to the Minister is the director-general. The Minister's admission is an indication that our officials are incompetent to carry out their obligations as defined by the Public Finance Management Act.
This qualifies for her to recommend to the President that they be relieved their responsibilities, in particular the director-general. Large sums of money could not be accounted for, and yet officials are still keeping their jobs. Junior officials are the ones that are going to receive the blame from those same senior officials, as they have nobody to protect them.
Most of the offices in the rural areas are still seriously understaffed and provision of services is compromised. Each year there is underspending by this department and we are told this is caused by vacancies within the department. Why is it difficult just to fill a vacancy, as a matter of urgency?
I will repeat some of the concerns raised by my colleague in the National Assembly. Does the department have competent employees within its internal audit section? If it does why could they not pick up these problems much earlier and correct them? Or is it a matter of jobs for pals that is being practised? I have to say this, because if my colleague said this in the National Assembly, there is nothing to stop me from doing the same. Thank you, Chairperson.