The Department of Transport has received a qualified audit with findings, with the auditor-general cautioning about the lack of leadership in dealing with graft at the department’s entities.
Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu delivered a hard-hitting analysis of the state of affairs at the department, saying it lacked leadership when it came to enforcing sound financial management.
The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), one of the entities the department oversees, has been bedevilled by tender irregularities that have resulted in billions of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Prasa has roped in Werkmans Attorneys to conduct multiple investigations to get to the bottom of the rot.
The suspect extension of an Electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis) was also an area of concern.
Makwetu said the department’s systems were inadequate to ensure it regularly obtained proper records of movable tangible and intangible assets.
Leadership instability resulted in inadequate reviews of financial information, and inadequate monitoring of compliance to laws and regulations the department is subject to.
Department acting director-general Mathabatha Mokonyama said a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment had interdicted the department from taking steps to effect the transfer of the eNatis system to the department or a nominee.
The developer of the eNatis system, Tasima, obtained the interdict pending payment from the department, and the department has since been declared to be in contempt of court for failing to comply with court orders to that effect.
Mokonyama said the department faced challenges including personnel constraints and a low level of investment in transport infrastructure.
"The budget cut on compensation of employees and the subsequent moratorium on filling vacant positions proved to be the biggest challenges … during the period under review." These affected the department’s ability to meet its performance targets, he said.
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