Johannesburg – Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has identified the flouting of procurement processes as well as unsubstantiated deviations in securing personal protective equipment (PPE).
Maluleke on Wednesday delivered her very first report, which was government’s Covid-19 relief fund audit.
The AG pointed out strides made by government since her predecessor, Kimi Makwetu, released the first relief fund audit report in September, which highlighted discrepancies in the system.
The nature of the Covid-19 pandemic demanded that many deviations from ordinary processes be made, particularly because the country was in emergency mode. However, those deviations should be substantiated.
Maluleke said that was not the case.
“We found instances in many provinces of prices that were paid for PPE that were higher than the market prices that were determined by the National Treasury,” said Maluleke.
The AG said that some laws were broken during these procurements.
“The tax affairs of some of the supplies that benefited from these contracts were not in order,” Maluleke said.
“That is against the law in that anybody who gets a government contract should have their tax affairs in order. In fact, there is a requirement that you should have a tax clearance certificate,” she added.
A number of provinces, including Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and the Free State, are investigating hundreds of suspected irregular tender
