Gauteng blows R1.6 billion on legal expenses

5 December 2016

The Gauteng provincial government has incurred more than R1.6 billion in legal expenses over the past five years.

More than R684 million of this was incurred in the 2015/16 financial year alone.

A consolidation of legal fees for the provincial government over a five year period has revealed that from the 2011/12 financial year to 2015/16 the spend on this item has increased by 390%.

The biggest spender in the 2015/16 financial year was the Department of Health, whose legal costs increased from R238 million to R569 million – making up the bulk of the year’s legal fees.

Excessive legal claims and legal fees are a natural consequence of an uncaring and inefficient government that forces citizens and suppliers to take legal action.

As a result Gauteng’s most vulnerable, the poor and unemployed, are being penalised by delayed service delivery due to budgetary constraints.

It is an indictment on Premier, David Makhura’s administration that during a period of severe austerity and cost containment measures that the provincial government can waste millions of rands because it fails to honour its Constitutional mandate.

Issued by Mike Moriarty, DA Chief Whip in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, 5 December 2016