Gauteng govt 'committed to correct spending of public funds'

This comes as media reports this weekend said the Auditor General's report revealed the province had wasted R6.6bn. According to the provincial administration, the reports lacked contextual information.

The Gauteng government said R1.4bn was unauthorised expenditure, which is defined as an overspending of a vote, while R4.8bn was irregular expenditure, which is defined as expenditure other than unauthorised expenditure and R400m was in fruitless expenditure.

According the provincial government, the biggest contributor to the R4.8bn irregular expenditure was the Health and Social Development Department at R2.2bn, the Department of Roads and Transport at R2.2bn and the Infrastructure Department at R242m.

Clean audit

Mokonyane said the MECs for Finance and Health as well as herself would take responsibility to provide leadership in the provincial Health Department. She also announced that the Social Department has been split from the Health Department.

Since December last year, the provincial government has paid R400m to its owed service providers of the Department of Health. These include service providers that have not been paid since 2007. The government wants to have settled accruals by 2014.

The R2.2bn incurred in irregular spending by the Department of Roads and Transport was due in part to the initiation of an investigation into tenders, while R1.6bn of the amount was paid to bus service providers in the 2010/11 financial year.

The provincial government has been in collaboration with the Auditor General, the Department of Finance and National Treasury to sustain interventions.

Additionally, the Department of Infrastructure has put in place remedial action such as the implementation of a proper financial management system and revamping its supply chain management processes.

Mokonyane also received a clean audit award from Auditor General Terence Nombembe for the province receiving a clean audit for the second time in a row.