Department of Justice: Eighth successive qualified audit and 72% of targets not met

While the Justice Minister bumbles from one failed court case to another, his department also remains in chaos.

Receiving a qualified audit is now par for the course, and this year is no exception. The Department of Justice has managed to receive its eighth successive qualified audit as a result of its on-going failure to adequately account for third-party funds, which include bail, fines and maintenance payments. One would have expected that, after eight years, this could have been satisfactorily addressed.

The Report of the Auditor General and the matters of emphasis reveal a number of serious shortcomings, which include:

• The department only escaped incurring unauthorised expenditure of R379 million by failing to pay invoices within the period of 30 days as required by Treasury Regulations.
• Of the total planned targets, 72% were NOT achieved, i.e. a mere 28% of targets set were achieved. The reason given by the Auditor General is that the department has not adequately monitored performance.
• Proper control systems to safeguard and maintain assets were not implemented.
• The Accounting Officer did not take adequate steps to prevent irregular expenditure, nor did she take effective and appropriate disciplinary steps against officials who incurred irregular expenditure.
• Appointments were made to posts that were not approved and funded, and employees were appointed without following a proper process to verify the correctness of their documentation.
• Some senior managers did not have signed performance contracts.
• Goods were procured without obtaining the required price quotations for goods under R500 000.
• Goods above R500 000 were procured without inviting competitive bids, and the Accounting Officer approved deviations even though it was not impractical to invite competitive bids.
• The department developed a plan to deal with audit findings, but "adherence to the plan was not monitored".
• Insufficient monitoring controls were in place, and there was not even a proper filing system supporting the performance in the annual report, which resulted in material adjustments to the annual performance report.

It is quite evident that, despite some progress having been made in filling senior management positions, there is still a real crisis in oversight and management of the department. The DA will put these issues to the Director General, Nonkuleleko Sindane, when she appears before the Portfolio Committee next week, and insist on responses as to how she plans to deal with these issues.

Meanwhile, the Minister's response is limited in his foreword to the Annual Report to one line saying that they will "strengthen administrative capacity". This is unacceptable and an insult to every South African who has to deal with inefficient court systems on a daily basis. It seems he is more concerned about assessing the courts' judgments than ensuring that they operate in an environment that is conducive to the effective and efficient administration of justice.

Statement issued by Debbie Schafer MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, October 9 2012

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter