The Argus Report Read about it!
The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) is concerned the same problems persist year after year in the national and provincial departments of health which are on the frontline in South Africa’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The AGSA’s deputy business executive manager, Eugene de Haan, was delivering a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Health on the department’s annual performance plan.
READ | Eastern Cape police commissioner tests positive for Covid-19
He said while there were no transgressions in the sector, there was no improvement either.
“The picture looks the same year on year,” De Haan added. “That is concerning for us.”
Root causes
The AGSA found the following root causes of the problems in the sector:
- Inadequate oversight exercised regarding financial and performance reporting and compliance as well as related internal controls.
- Lack of monitoring the implementation of action plans to address internal control deficiencies.
- Inadequate implementation of proper record keeping in a timely manner to ensure that complete, relevant and accurate information is accessible and available to support financial and performance reporting.
- No implementation of controls over daily and monthly processing and reconciling of transactions.
- Lack of review and monitoring of compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- Inadequate consequences for poor performance and transgressions.
DA MP Haseena Ismail expressed her concern about the additional R51 billion which will go to provinces to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, saying there must be accountability for this money.
De Haan said the national department was still responsible to ensure that this money was spent on what it was intended for, and recommended to the committee to request reports on this from the national department.
