Statement by Brett Herron, Secretary-General for GOOD
20 November 2019
SA CONTINUES SLIPPING DOWN INTEGRITY SLOPE, AG REVEALS
TIME TO LOOK AT TECHNOLOGY LIKE BLOCKCHAIN TO IMPROVE SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEMS
The Auditor-General’s report on 2018/2019 audit findings across national and provincial departments makes for grim reading at a time of extreme economic difficulty.
It is a massive psychological setback for a country that didn’t believe there was room for further deterioration in the state’s control of money.
The extent of mismanagement and theft is staggering:
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Irregular expenditure up 23% to R62.6bn compared to the previous year
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R849m lost to fruitless and wasteful expenditure, which figure could nearly double taking outstanding audits into account
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Unauthorised expenditure down by 23% to R1.4bn, but this position also flatters to deceive in the absence of outstanding audits
These levels of incompetence and thievery are disgraceful in a country in which many people can’t afford bread to eat.
New levels of transparency must be urgently devised and implemented, preferably technology based and accessible to citizens, so that government spending can be tracked from the moment budgets are transferred to departmental accounts. Rather than count how much we’ve lost at the end of the year we should take steps to increase scrutiny and stop the losses in real time, during the year.
We all talk about the 4th industrial revolution but it’s time to stop talking in the abstract and embrace modern technology like Blockchain in the supply chain management system.
The criminal justice system also has a vital role. For as long as civil servants believe they’ll get away with the loose management of public funds, they’ll carry on carrying on with impunity. Seeing a few of them being prosecuted would be a major deterrent to their peers.
Finally, accounting officers must take personal responsibility for systemic failures. If they are not up to the job they should be fired.
Ends…