Labour Department is Protecting Compensation Fund Officials, Says Scopa
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) believes that the Department of Labour is protecting former Compensation Fund senior managers. The Compensation Fund has been plagued by ongoing financial mismanagement, but senior officials previously employed at the Fund have simply been moved to other posts in the Department of Labour. No one has been held accountable for the mismanagement of finances and the accumulated irregular expenditure at the Fund, amounting to R1 billion.
Scopa is of the view that the former senior management of the Compensation Fund were never held accountable for the mismanagement of finances. Their actions and the subsequent lack of consequences for those actions affect the livelihood of not only the poor people of this country but of everyone who depends on the Compensation Fund, the Committee said.
The Committee has also noted that the Compensation Fund is not taking the Audit Committee seriously, as the Fund has ignored the Audit Committee when it has raised concerns. The Audit Committee has also told Scopa that it is not satisfied with the speed with which the Fund responds to requests for information.
Scopa has requested the Audit Committee to furnish it with details of all the matters raised with the management of the Fund and the responses received.
Scopa has also requested the Compensation Fund to furnish the Committee with a detailed report of all internal and external investigations that are underway, a backlog of all cases that have not been processed and the reasons, an age analysis of all cases, a breakdown of contingent liabilities with a number of uncontested cases with a report of all disciplinary matters currently taking place by next week Thursday, 10 March 2016.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Faith Kwaza
Tel: 021 403 8062
Cell: 081 377 0686
E-mail: fkwaza@parliament.gov.za
