KZN AG report reveals more than R1 billion awarded to state employees and their families

8 July 2021

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is shocked by the findings of the 2019/2021 Auditor-General’s (AG) report on municipalities which shows that hundreds of millions of Rands worth of contracts have been paid to state officials and their families.

The report paints a disturbing picture of the abuse of power by government officials, with KZN consistently featured amongst the worst performing provinces in this regard.

That hundreds of millions of Rands worth of government spending has now been linked to state officials and/or their families is criminal. Despite the laws and regulations regarding public money being clear, ANC cadres in the employ of the state continue to abuse the system, with the report indicating that;

R268 million was awarded to close family members of municipal employees

R828 million was awarded to other state officials and

R6 million was awarded to political office bearers.

The rules could not be clearer, with the AG stating; “The Municipal Supply Chain Management Regulations prohibits the awarding of contracts to, and acceptance of quotations from, employees, councillors or other state officials, or entities owned or managed by them, if they are in the service of the municipality or any other state institution. Awards to close family members of persons in the service of the state, whether at the municipality or another state institutions, are not prohibited.”

The DA acknowledges that the law does allow for the awarding of contracts to close family members of persons in service of the state. However, any awards of more than R2 000 must be disclosed in the financial statements of the auditee for the sake of transparency and as required by Supply Chain management regulations.  Regrettably, this is not being followed to the letter, as evidenced by the sheer scale of the AG findings.

The DA has recently submitted 16 Public Access to Information applications (PAIA) to municipalities in KZN in order to obtain information relating to this ongoing scourge. We are also awaiting a report into legal action taken against state employees by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in relation to fraud, maladministration and corruption within KZN’s municipalities. This is in line with our ongoing work to hold government officials and politicians accountable for the collapse of our province’s municipalities.

The DA is the only party in KZN fighting for good governance and the creation of an ethical and capable state. Local Government Elections are around the corner and voters must think long and hard about their choice at the ballot box. They cannot waste more time on smaller parties or the IFP who are nowhere to be seen in the fight for better services and functional municipalities.

The DA has proven that where we govern we get things done.

Issued by Chris Pappas, DA KZN Spokesperson on CoGTA, 8 July 2021