Irregular expenditure clarified
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has noted the report presented by Auditor General (AG) on national and provincial audit outcomes for the 2015/16 financial year.
The report mentioned amongst other things, irregular expenditure on the part of government departments, including DWS which was mentioned amongst six other entities.
The department had proactively taken the public into its confidence when it proactively informed on the irregular expenditure during the 2015/ 2016 financial year.The worst drought in decades, that is prevalent across the country, necessitated a humanitarian response on the part of the department to support communities in distress. This led to public funds being re-directed from certain projects towards emergency drought interventions; and the irregular expenditure as a result.
To this end, additional water was released from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in consultation with the Lesotho government and this resulted in additional costs being incurred on the part of the department. High capacity, motorised water tankers as well as mobile water tankers were rolled out nationally to provide basic water for household consumption and pollution.
The Vaal River system was tackled through operations and maintenance support that was provided to municipalities in a bid to fix waste water treatment works and thereby optimizing efficient water use.
Additional interventions included the Mopani Water Intervention project. The project consists of the construction of pipelines, the refurbishment of boreholes, the upgrading of the existing- and the construction of additional waste water treatment works to ensure that 55 villages in and around Giyani have access to clean drinkable water. The revitalization of 154 boreholes that will further ensure security of supply of this precious resource, also forms part of the project. These and many other emergency interventions have led to an increase in irregular expenditure totaling R1.3 billion.
The public can be assured that while public funds were re-directed to support drought interventions, these funds were not in any way misappropriated or lost through corrupt activities.
The department wishes to reaffirm its commitment to spending the public funds in line with National Treasury prescripts and measures are continuously being put in place to ensure good financial management. The results of these efforts can be seen in the first clean audit since 2009 that the department received in the 2015/2016 Financial Year.
For more information contact:
Mr Sputnik Ratau
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 874 2942
