At the end of the first quarter the Department had only spent R196 million or 17.3 per cent of R1.1 billion which was allocated for current payments. The under expenditure in this category was attributed to the high volume of vacant positions in the department for the period under review. A further contributor to the under expenditure was the slow spending on goods and services due to a number of outstanding invoices, lower demand for contractors, consultancy services and lower spending on advertising.