Waste of taxpayers' millions at Nedlac

03 October 2014

It is high time the Minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant, answer to the tax paying public for the on-going financial mess at Nedlac.

I will be tabling written questions in Parliament and writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Labour, Lumka Yengeni MP, requesting that the Minister be summoned to the Committee to explain Nedlac's shocking waste of taxpayer's money.

In the past three years, financial mismanagement at Nedlac has resulted in irregular expenditure equalling 87% of its total budget of R27 681 751 - indicative of massive financial maladministration at the forum.

The Auditor - General has again this year pointed out wasteful and irregular expenditure at Nedlac that the Minister is yet to explain, let alone give clear action steps to resolve the on-going waste of money.

Over the past three years, the amounts of irregular expenditure have been as follows:

2011 - R17 045 248;

2012 - R 4 315 220;

2013 - R 2 754 988;

A special Forensic Audit investigation was conducted at Nedlac and the report was given to the minister in August 2013. The Minister, in response to my on-going Parliamentary questions and investigation into this matter indicated that:

"The report identified irregular expenditure and pointed to systemic weaknesses including, inadequate oversight, major policy gaps and poor financial controls as major contributory factors. It recommended that urgent attention be given to strengthening NEDLAC's financial governance, policy environment and systems and controls."

What the minister has not told the public is what steps she has taken to remedy this situation, and who has been held accountable.

I call for the Minister to table this Forensic Report before the Labour Committee in Parliament and to present herself to explain what went wrong, and what action she has taken. 

The Minister should explain:

Why she has condoned millions of rands in irregular expenditure, by not acting;

Who was found to have been responsible for this gross financial mismanagement;

What steps she has taken to hold officials accountable for this waste of poor taxpayer's money;

What she has done to prevent this happening again; and

Whether she is considering any officials mentioned in the forensic report for promotion to the vacant position of Director General of Labour or any other position in her department.

The public are tired of funding millions, and in some cases, billions of rands in wasted expenditure by President Zuma's cabinet.

The growing mismanagement in the Department of Labour adds to a picture of wasteful expenditure across the board that cannot be accepted.

Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Labour, October 3 2014

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