The Defence and Military Veterans Department has incurred over R2-billion in irregular expenditure in the 2020/21 financial year. This is according to the findings of the Auditor-General, Tsakani Maluleke‘s report on the department’s financial statements.
The report has been tabled in Parliament. Maluleke says she was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on sensitive projects, expenditures and related investments.
The Auditor-General has found that the bulk of the irregular expenditure in the department is linked to the increase in the employee compensation budget which wasn’t approved by National Treasury.
Some of the amounts also include R37-million incurred for COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment. Another R33 million was spent irregularly when Cuban medicines were brought into South Africa without the authorisation from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority.
