A three-part overview of the first 100 days of South Africa’s second government of national unity (GNU) focusing on defence and military veterans by Bantu Holomisa, one of two deputy ministers to Angie Motshekga, has drawn official media reaction from the Defence Ministry.
Among issues raised by the United Democratic Front (UDM) leader are tardiness in recordkeeping; procurement compliance and financial discipline; “unmet” key annual performance targets as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The issues are not confined to the Department of Defence (DoD) and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and include the Department of Military Veteran (DMV) and Armscor.
Holomisa makes it clear he is responding in the wake of a Ministerial tasking to analyse an Auditor-General (AG) report to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). Development of “a strategic plan” is underway as well as a road map to “fix misclassification problems, improve transparency and restore financial integrity”. Each AG concern will be addressed with specific actions, he noted.
Responding to a report in a Johannesburg daily on Holomisa’s reports, a joint statement by DoD HoC (Head of Communication), Siphiwe Dlamini, and Onnika Kwakwa, Ministry Communications and Liaison Officer, has it the DoD “has already developed an action plan “ to address issues raised by the AG.
On the fourth of his seven-page report, circulated to senior DoD and SANDF officers, Holomisa has it management of “secret funds” is “troubling”. These funds, he maintains, are critical to national security and lack transparency.
“To address this we are developing new monitoring and contingency plans for the use of secret funds with the aim of satisfying both the AG and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). We cannot allow these funds to be misused as they are vital to the functioning of the [national] defence force and the safety of the country.”
Earlier this week the Auditor General of South Africa reported that over the last five years, the Department of Defence accounted for the vast majority of irregular expenditure within government departments, at R14.39 billion, due to overspending on salaries.
When it comes to fruitless and wasteful expenditure, the Department of Defence accumulated R75 million in such spending over the last five years.
