Gazankulu Legislative Assembly. Report of the Sessional Committee on Public Accounts

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FORD

STAN

S

ARIE

LIBR

Gazankulu (South Africa ) . Legislative Assembly. Sessional Committee on Public Accounts.

Report of the Sessional Committee on Public Accounts .

HJ 82.3 639639A

1986

D R

S

O

E

F

I

N A

R A

HOOVER INSTITUTION on War, Revolution , and Peace FOUNDED BY HERBERT HOOVER, 1919

D

OR

MINTIRHO YA VULAVULA

NF

A ST

S

( South Africa). GAZANKULU ULU

LEGISLATIVE

ASSEMBLY

REPORT

OF

THE

SESSIONAL

COM COMMITTEE

ON

PUBLIC

ACCOUNTS

1986

JF

RIE

RA LIB

- 1 -

RULE 144 ( b )

OF

GAZANKULU

THE

STANDING

LEGISLATIVE

RULES

OF

THE

ASSEMBLY

As soon as possible after the beginning of each session the Legislative Assembly shall appoint the following Sessional Committees each consisting of five members including the Chairman thereof : -

(b )

On Public Accounts whose terms of reference shall be to examine and report to the Assembly upon

(i )

:-

the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Assembly to meet public expenditure ; and

( ii )

the annual report of the Auditor - General which

report

shall stand referred to the Sessional Committee ;

and the report of the Sessional Committee shall be laid upon the Table whereupon such report shall be formally consisdered by the Assembly .

- 2 -

ANNOUNCEMENT

14 MAY 1986

The following Honourable members have been appointed as members of the Sessional Committee on Gazankulu Government Accounts : -

Chief N.C.

Mathebula

Mr G.M.

Mushwana

Mr T.C.

Hlayisi

Mr V.M.

Ngobeni

Mr M.A.

Chauke

The Committee has been empowered in terms of Rule 151 to take evidence and call for paper .

MATTERS REFERRED TO THE

14 MAY 1986

COMMITTEE

Report of the Auditor - General of the Gazankulu

on the Accounts

Government and of the Accounts

of Lower Authorities in the area for the financial year 1984/85 in terms of Rule 144

14 MAY 1986

referred to the Committee

(B) .

Reply of the Treasury to the Resolution of the Report of the Sessional Committee on Gazankulu Accounts ,

1985 ,

tabled .

Recommended

that it be referred to the Sessional Committee on Gazankulu Accounts 1985 .

- 3 -

PROCEEDINGS

PROCEEDING OF THE SESSIONAL

Appointed

N.C. Mathebula

COMMITTEE

( B)

1986

of the Rules of the Gazankulu

the Committee consisting of Chief

( Chairman ) ,

Ngobeni

THE

COMMITTEE ON GAZANKULU ACCOUNTS ,

in terms of Rule 144

Legislative Assembly ,

Mr. V.M.

OF

and Mr. M. A.

Mr.

G.M.

Mushwana , Mr. T.C.

Hlayisi ,

Chauke .

WEDNESDAY 14 MAY 1986

PRESENT

Mr. W.M.N.

Erasmus-

Senior State Auditor

Mr. M.F. Mdungazi-

Deputy Secretary for Finance

Mr. J.D.

Secretary for the Department

Mativandlela

of the Interior

Mr. P.J.

Venter

Secretary for the Department of Justice

Mr. S.D.C.

Mr. M.W.

Dr. P.

Du Preez-

Robert-

Mr. W.B.

Mr.

L.A.

Brig .

Vukela

Mr. A.D.

Secretary for the Department of Works Secretary for the Department of Health & Welfare

Matthews-

Secretary for the Department of Chief Minister and Economic Affairs

van Dyk-

Secretary for the Department of Agriculture and Forestry

D. J.

Mr. G.H.P.

Secretary for the Department of Education

CoetzeeMarais-

Makondo-

Mr. C.N. Maphophe-

Commissioner ,

Gazankulu Police

Secretary for the Department of Finance Clerk of the Committee Assistant clerk of the Committee

Clerk reads Rule 144 ( B ) of the Procedure of the Gazankulu Legislative Assembly and the speaker of the Legislative Assembly's announcement constituting the committee .

Clerk intimated that the Committee would proceed to the election

of Chairman .

Whereupon the motion of M.A.

Chauke

That the Chief N.C.

RESOLVED :

The Chairman

Mathebula be Chairman .

welcomed members and officials . On the motion

RESOLVED :

of the chairman

That the evidence given before the committee be in English and be recorded verbatim in so far as it is practicable to do so .

The Committee resumed the consideration of the Report of the Auditor - General

Mr. W.M.N.

on Accounts of the Gazankulu Government 1984-85

Erasmus ,

Senior State Auditor ;

Mr.

Secretary for the Department of the Interior ; Secretary to the Treasury ;

Mr.

Department of Justice ;

S.D.C.

Department

Mr.

of Education ;

Department of Works ;

Dr.

of Health and Welfare ;

Mr. P.

Mr.

P.J.

M.W.

Vukela ,

Mr.

Mativandlela , M.

F.

Mdungazi ,

Secretary for the

Secretary for the

Du Preez ,

Robert, W.B.

Venter ,

J.D.

Secretary for the

Secretary for the Department

Matthews ,

Secretary for the

Department of the Chief Minister and Economic Affairs ; Mr.

L.A.

van Dyk ,

& Forestry ; and Mr.

Brig .

G.H.P.

Secretary for the Department of Agriculture D. J.

Marais ,

Coetzee ,

Commissioner of Gazankulu Police

Secretary for the Department

of Finance were

examined .

At 10hrs 20 minutes the Chairman announced that the programme had been completed and that the Committee had nothing more to discuss . He thanked the members for their attendance and co - operation and Mr.

Erasmus for his assistance and guidance .

The Committee deleberated

and at 10hrs 25 min .

adjourned sine die .

- 5 -

FIRST

Your

Committee ,

having

of the Auditor - General

Government

area for

and

the

having taken further

considered on

the

and

examined

Accounts

of the Accounts of Lower

financial

year

to

of

the

make upon

submits

the Report Gazankulu

Authorities in the

1984-85 referred

evidence which it

comments

Conference

REPORT

to

herewith ,

it ,

has

and

no

it .

Room ,

Legislative Assembly , unla

Giyani .

& Mathe CHAIRMAN

14 May 1986

- 6 -

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE WEDNESDAY 14 MAY 1986

( AT 8hrs 000 )

Unauthorised expenditure Paragraph 4 page 1

1.

Chairman )

Mr. Matthews ,

according to the Report , the

statutory appropriation was exceeded by R113 014 at the close of the financial year .

Could you please explain to

the Committee the circumstances which lead to the excess ? ( Mr

Matthews )

Mr

Chairman , the excess of R113 014 on

statutory Appropriation was due to an increase in the salaries of the members of the Legislative Assembly which was back , dated to 1.3.1984 in terms of the Gazankulu Payment and Privileges of Members of the Legislative Assembly Amendment Act ,

1985 ,

which came into operation on the 1st of March 1984 and the Act provided that they get the first increase with effect from 1.3.1984 and the second increase with effect from 1 October 1984.

These two increases were responsible for the

excess of R113 014 .

Bursaries ,

2.

Mr

Paragraph 14

Hlayisi )

Mr Matthews ,

it appears that an amount of

R34 401 were owed by students who have not complied with the terms of their agreements .

How many students are involved and

what steps are taken to recover these moneys ? - ( Mr Matthews ) Mr Chairman ,

the total amount of R34 401 was owed by the

students who had not complied with the terms of their bursary loan agreements .

21 students were involved .

are paying back the monies they owe . handed to the State Attorney for legal

Two students

The other cases have been actions .

Appropriation Account .

3.

Mr Chauke ) Mr Matthews ,

under Programme 2- Administrative

expenditure- a saving of R388 811,62 was effected mainly because pension benefits for members of the Legislative Assembly were less than anticipated and the fact that provision for official publications was not fully utilised . however

represents almost

under this main Division . are you refering to ? to is the Hansard .

( Mr

20 % of the total

This amount

amount budgeted for

What type of official publications Matthews ) The publication referred

Lube Recording prints the Hansard in all

- 7 -

three official languages .

As soon as one set

is completed it is delivered and payment

is made at the close of the financial year .

All three sets

had not as yet been completed .

Tribal Levies and Trust Accounts ,

4.

Mr.

Ngobeni )

Paragraph 25 ( 3 )

It is noticed that

two cases of theft

totalling R689 were discovered during the year .

Mr

Matthews

could you furnish more details in this regard and what the latest position ( Mr

is in regard to the oustanding amounts ? -

Matthews ) Mr.

Chairman , the two cases of theft in respect

of the sum of R689 were the

following :

An

amount of R594 was

stolen at Gidjana . Tribal Authority and R95 at Khomanani Tribal Authority .

The

former secretary for

embezzled an amount of R594 , amount of R340 .

Gidjana Tribal Authority

to date he has paid back an

An amount of R254 is still outstanding .

former secretary for Khomanani

The

embezzled an amount of R95 .

The Tribal Authority has since requested the write - off of the amount

as per Tribal Resolution dated 11 December 1985 .

The Resolution themselves .

is available

for the committee to see

for

The Tribal Authority failed to locate the

whereabouts of Mr.

K.P.

Makhubele who emigrated to the Urban

Areas .

5.

Mr

Chairman

) Mr

Matthews ,

according to statement 6 on

page 39 of the Report an amount of R6 926,14 was written off in respect of bursaries during the year .

Could you please

give more details of the circumstances which lead to the write - off ? - ( Mr

Matthews

The amount of R6 926,14 was

written off in respect of bursaries during the year under review and was made up as follows :

The amount of

was written off in respect of deceased Mr. died in a motor car accident . student at Medunsa .

A.S.

R4 000

Mushwana who

He was a registered medical

The amount of R400 was written off in

respect of deceased Mr.

D. T.

Mabasa who was a registered

Public Health Student at Shikoane Matlala Technical College .

- 8 -

He died after a long illness .

The amount of R2 526,14

was written off in respect of Mr. at one stage discharged

J.B.

Mathebula who was

from the Public Service and was

required to pay back the said amount but was subsequently re - employed in the Public Service and is presently serving under the Department of the Chief Minister and Economic Affairs .

6.

Mr.

Chairman )

We have now come to the end of our

consideration of vote 1. you want to leave.-

Mr.

Matthews you are excused if

( Mr Matthews )

Mr Chairman , I think

I will wait until later because there is a certain annexure which I want to withdraw amongst the answers of vote 3 .

- 9 -

Agricultural Projects Paragraph 18 ( 1 )

7.

Mr Chairman )

Mr.

van Dyk ,

according to this paragraph ,

the net loss on agricultural projects amounted to

R1 338 780 for the year .

What was the total income in

respect of each project during the year ? -Mr : van Diyk ) Mr Chairman , Department

the income in respect of each project of the

of Agriculture was as follows :

There was no

income for Utha because this is a project for private farmers and should be excluded from the list of departmental projects .

At Hartbees the income was R6 212.00 .

income derived from bananas ,

At Hom

the

lucerne and maize was R326 093.00 .

At Thabina ( centre pivot ) there was also no income because no At Thabina ( nursery the

crops were planted due to the drought . income derived Coffee ,

was R316.00 .

At Julesberg the income from

nuts and bixa was R6 425.00 .

At the Rossbach The Sisal projects in

plantation the income was R78 381.00 .

all the district produced an income of R592 247.00 . Berlyn where citrus ,

litchis ,

At

advocados and mangoes are planted ,

an income of R789 096.00 was derived and lastly at Allandale Citrus and mangoes produced R296 486.00 .

8.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr van Dyk ,

are you

satisfied that proper

records are kept to reflect the actual cost on these projects ? (Mr van Dyk ) Yes Mr Chairman , ncial

records are kept as prescribed

regulations and the stores administration code ,

are currently being made to introduce additional

by fina-

and arrangements

records to

improve the procedure for the determination of the profits

and losses of projects .

9.

Mr Chauke )

that the project

With reference to the Bixa project , resulted in a net loss of R11

with a net profit of R10 978 the previous year .

I notice

919 compared Mr van Dyk ,

what was the cause for this ? - ( Mr van Dyk ) The loss of R11 919 on the Bixa was caused by the drought during that year .

The drought also caused a disease called phytra in this bixa trees which aggravated the loss .

- 10 -

10.

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr van Dyk ,

what is the purpose of the

nursery project ? - ( Mr van Dyk )

Mr Chairman , the purpose

of the nursery is to keep small fruit trees purchased from nurseries outside Gazankulu before they are transferred to the projects for planting .

Its other purpose is for the

growth of indigenous trees which are planted at Government buildings .

11.

Mr Chairman ) Mr

project

van Dyk ,

I

notice that the nursery

resulted in a net loss of R26 849 compared with

considerable net profit the previous year . give reasons for this ? - ( Mr van Byk )

Mr

a

Could you please

Chairman , during

1983-84 the amount of sales included the cash sales of trees as well as the value of fruit trees transferred to government projects and indigenous trees transferred for During 1984-85 the income

planting at Government buildings .

was calculated only from the cash sales of trees which resulted in the lower income figure and which in return resulted in a It may also be mentioned that during

loss during 1984-85 .

1983-84 a large number of coffee trees were grown at the nursery and transferred to Julesberg project for planting . The value of these trees was included in the income for that for the year .

year and contributed to the profit

The

nursery was not established as a profit- making project but rather for the purpose of rendering a service projects .

The actual

to the other

profits and losses will be reflected

in the accounts of the farming projects .

12.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr van Dyk ,

could you also give an indication

to the committee of the purpose of the Shangaan cattle scheme Hartbeesfarm and the cattle - breeding scheme , Utha ? - ( Mr van Dyk ) Mr Chairman ,

the Utha scheme is a scheme for private farmers

which is managed on a co - operative basis .

The purpose of the

scheme is to assist the participant farmers to farm on a scientific basis so as to enable them to achieve an economical income .

The Department

render extension and other

supporting services to the farmers . on the contrary is a Departmental

The Hartbees farm

project .

-- 11 -

The purpose of this scheme is research and to breed nguni cattle as well as indigenous sheep and goats and to upgrade the quality of these animals .

The approved progency of these

animals will be sold to Gazankulu farmers at subsidised price for breeding purposes .

The scheme will also serve

a demonstration and educational

Irregularities and losses ,

13.

unit for extension workers .

paragraph 18 ( 2 )

Mr Chauke ) Mr van Dyk ,

accordin

g

to the Report three

cases of theft amounting R1 048 were reported during the year .

Could you please furnish more details ? - ( Mr

Mr Chairman ,

van Dyk )

involved in the three cases the three official s to R1

of theft amountin

g

048 were found guilty in court and The money has since been

ordered to refund the money . recovere . d

Appropriation Account

14 .

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr van Dyk ,

the Appropriation Account

reflects an overspending on program 5 of R307 319,79 which represents 32 % of the total amount budgeted for . Could you please elaborate further on the main reason as explained in the report ? overspending of R307

( Mr

van Dyk )

Mr Chairman ,

the

319,79 was mainly due to the new

dispensation for Agricultural officers .

Unfortunately the

provision made in the budget for this dispensation was insufficient .

15.

Mr Chairman )

Mr van Dyk ,

consideration of your vote , - (Mr van Dyk )

we have come to the end of our

you may go if you so wish : -

Thank you Mr Chairman .

- 12 -

Outstanding Revenue ,

16.

Mr Chairman )

Paragraph 10 ( 2 )

Mr Mativandlela ,

I notice from paragraph

10 ( 2 ) on page 3 of the Report that an amount of R548 962 is outstanding .

Could you please explain to the Committee

the nature of the outstanding amount ? - ( Mr Mativandlela ) Mr Chairman , the outstanding amount as stated in the Report balance on the houses sold whose

comprises the following , redemption instalments is R363 513,17 ;

are payable over a specified period ,

total amount outstanding including March for

rentals and services is R118 546,36 ;

total

outstanding in respect of electricity fees ,

amount for March is R66 902.77 ,

thus all bringing the total to R548 962.40

17.

Mr Mativandlela ,

Mr Hlayisi )

is this amount no t'

extraordinarily high for your Department ?-

( Mr Mativandlela )

No it is not extraordinarily high when considering the following aspects ,

firstly that the average monthly amount

collected for all the Townships for the year under review equalled R150 900.

This implies that the collection for March

1985 which was only paid in April amount reflected in the Report .

1985 could have reduced the Secondly the Regulation

provides that rentals and services ( water ,

electricity and

sanitation ) may be paid until the 7th day of the following

month .

the amount paid after 31 March includes rentals ,

instalments

and service charges payable by means of the stop

order arrangements which equalled R11 485,56 . has been reported 31 March 1985.

This amount

as outstanding as at

Thirdly more houses with higher deposits than

usual have been sold during the year .

The rentals and

deposits for these houses were introduced during the year under review and the people could not new tariffs . recovered .

quickly adjust to the

However these outstanding amounts have been Lastly a number of sites were cancelled and

repossessed because the buyers neither developed. nor paid service charges . at Giyani

alone .

them

A total of 57 sites were cancelled

The average amount

involved for the past

3 years equalled Rll 080 and is being written - off .

- 13-

( Mr Hlayisi )

As a follow up question to what had been said ,

Mr Mativandlela , how long does the Department take to reposses . sites which are bought and not being developed ? - ( Mr Mativandlela ) Mr Chairman ,

the regulation provides for two years .

After

two years the sites may be repossessed .

18.

Mr Mativandlela ,

Mr Chauke . )

does your Department keep

a tight control over outstanding amounts and could you please give an indication of the system followed by your Department ? - ( Mr Mativandlela ) yes Mr Chairman , my department does keep a tight control over outstanding accounts . by my Department

is as follows :

Firstly accounts are sent

out to tenants on a monthly basis . who do not respond .

Secondly ,

The system followed

Reminders are sent to those

outstanding amounts Mr Chairman

in respect of public servants are deducted directly from their salaries after two months .

Thirdly if a consumer fails

to pay the account for electricity which is the biggest source of revenue , for a period in excess of two months , supply is cut summarily .

the

Lastly sites which are not developed

for a period in excess of three years are repossessed ,

and

the resultant outstanding amount written - off .

19.

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr Mativandlela ,

what was the total income

derived from electricity fees for the year under review? - ( Mr Mativandlela )

Mr Chairman ,

the total

income in respect

of electricity charges as at 31 March 1985 was R1 303 549,99 . This amount does not

include the fees for March 1985 which

were paid after 31 March 1985 .

20.

Mr. Chairman )

electricity fees ,

Mr du Preez ,

concerning the matter of

I understand that your Department is

responsible for the acquiring and distribution of electricity in Gazankulu .

Is the Government the only distributor of this

service or do other instances such as municipalities also supply us with electricity ? - ( Mr du Preez ) Mr Chairman , is the only distributor of electricity in

this Government

Gazankulu ,

buying it from the other institutions as follows : for distribution

and Dwarsloop .

in Mkhuhlu ,

Lulekani ,

Tintswalo ,

after

EscomThulamahashe

· 14 ·

Tzaneen municipality- for distribution in Nkowakowa ,

Berlyn

and Mahwahwa school and also for the Water pump station at N'wamitwa .

Lebows Government for supply at Shiluvani Hospital .

Louis Trichardt municipality for supply at Elim Hospital , Giyani District and Malamulele District .

The present agreement

with Louis Trichardt Municipality expires this year after which electricity will be supplied by Escom directly .

21.

Mr Hlayisi

)

Mr du Preez ,

at what

tariff do we acquire

this service from Escom ? - ( Mr du Preez ) Mr Chairman , the following are the tariffs at which we acquire this service from Escom :

Το

KVA at R11,80 and KWH units at 2,263 cents .

add on this Mr Chairman ,

I

also give the tariffs in respect

of electricity supply by the Tzaneen and Louis Trichardt Municipalities .

Tzaneen municipality :

KVA at R10-43 and

KWH units at 3,339 cents and Louis Trichardt municipality KVA at R14-12 and KWH units at 2,5 cents .

22.

Mr chauke )

Mr. Mativandlela ,

it would appear that the

supply of electricity is an important source of revenue . electricity sold at a certain extent ? - ( Mr that the Government extent .

Is

profit or do we subsidise users to a Mativandlela )

is subsidised.

When my Department

Mr. Chairman ,

I can say

the users to a cetain

took over the administration of

electricity from the Department of Works in May 1983 , the users were being charged 1,5c per unit instead of a unit charge of 4,8c as required by Escom .

It was decided that the

unit tariff of 4,8c be introduced in phases over a period

of 3 years . ( small

For the year under review the consumers

scale ) were thus charged 3,5c per unit instead of 4,8c

per unit .

This means that the difference was being subsidised

by the Government .

23.

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr Marais ,

I notice from statement 7 - Revenue

collected during the year- on page 40 of the Report, that no mention is made of electricity as 8 source of revenue .

Is

this source also taken into consideration when the yearly budget is compiled.?- ( Mr Marais ) included in Township fees .

Revenue from Electricity is

15 .

24.

Mr Chairman )

15 C1 ) ,

Mr Mativandles , according to paragraph

105 houses were constructed or taken over during the

year under review .

Are these houses constructed by your

Department only or do you make use of private concerns? · Mr Chairman , my Department only took over

Mr Mativandlela )

the construction of residential houses during the second quarter of the year under review .

The Department of Works had

thus far completed some of the houses which were taken over My Department started

by my Department for distribution .

building new houses towards the end of the year under review . I can therefore say ,

105 houses were

that the

Mr Chairman ,

constructed jointly by my Department and the Department of Works .

Private concerns have not been involved in the

construction of these houses .

25.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr Mativandlela ,

construction of a house ? -

what

is the cost for the

( Mr Mativandlela )

Mr.

Chairman , the

cost for the construction of the various types of houses is as follows :

type 51/9 which has four rooms and 54m²

floor

area is R4 200 ;

type 51 / 9G which has 5 rooms and 73m²

area is R7 125 ;

type

floor

51 / 9GA which has 5 rooms and 73m²

floor area is R7 800 ;

type LU1 which has 7 rooms and 782

floor area is R9 800 ;

type LU 2 which has 7 rooms and 109m²

floor area is R14 000 ; floor area is R8 800 ; area is Rll 600 ;

type B1 which has 4 rooms and 69m² type B2 which has 4

rooms and 78m²

type B3 which has 5 rooms and 93m²

floor

floor

area is R18 860 and lastly B4 which has 6 rooms and 107m²

26 .

floor area is R23 935 .

Mr Chauke )

Mr Mativandlela ,

does your Department keep

proper records to determine the actual cost of a house ? ( Mr. Mativandlela )

Mr.

Chairman ,

records of the actual cost labour used .

However ,

it

my Department does keep

of the cosntruction materials and is not easy to determine the

precise cost of supervision and transport . the cost of constructing

This means that

the various types of houses as

mentioned above are estimations based on the prevailing building rates per square metre .

16 -

27.

Mr Ngobeni

I notice that there is a

) Mr Mativandlela ,

huge increase in respect of outstanding instalments .. do you aɛcribe this increase ? - ( Mr Mativandlela ) , Mr.

To what Chairman ,

taking into consideration my answer in question 17 above , the instalments are not as high as they seem .

The reasons for the

large increase are that more houses were sold by instalments for example the 51/9 houses

at a much higher price than usual-

which had previously been sold for R1 800 was sold for R4 000 and the redemption period telescoped into 3 years instead of 20 years, and the second reason is that the new type of houses for example 51 / 9G ,

51 /9GA ,

and LUII were sold at the un-

LUI

usually high average price of R9 650 and the instalments telescoped into 3 years instead of 20 years .

28.

Mr Chairman ) According to the Report it appears that

figures in respect of items Mr.

(g)

and

( i ) were not available .

Erasmus what is the reason for this , was it

not possible

to obtain the necessay information from the Accounting Officer ? - ( Mr

Erasmus ) Mr Chairman ,

at the time of writing this Report ,

it was envisaged that the figure on townships might be

incorrect .

for outstanding revenue An audit survey was carried

out at the townships and it was discovered that

statements

on outstanding revenue does not reflect the amounts outstanding at 31 March 1985 ,

but the amounts which were

apparently outstanding at the time when the information was compiled during the new financial year . the numerous transctions , closed

Mr Chairman ,

due to

the fact that control cards were not

off each year and the urgency in the compilation

of the Report ,

it was not

possible to calculate the amounts

outstanding for six months or longer ,

in such short period

of time .

29.

Mr Hlayisi

)

From what is said here ,

I understand that control

cards at the townships are not closed off at the end of the year .

Mr Mativandlela ,

would it not be more advantageous

to your Department if control basis ? - ( MB Mr Chairman ,

Mativandlela ) because

cards are closed off on a yearly

Yes ,

it could be advantageous ,

it would be possible to know precisely

how much a tenant owes at the closing of the year .

-- 17 --

It would also

facilitate follow - up on the outstanding amount

immediately in the new financial year .

My Department is

going to implement this efficient method forthwith .

30.

Mr Chauke )

Mr Mativandlela ,

the outstanding amount in

respect of rentals and service charges as reflected in item ( h ) also

reflects a considerable increase .

please comment on this ? - ( Mr

Could you also

Mativandlela ) .

The considerable

increase in respect of the rentals and service charges is due mainly to the following : of houses ,

namely 51 / 9G ,

51 / 9GA , LUI and LUII houses with

comparatively high rentals ; over 100% ;

the increased number of new type

electricity tariffs increased by

rentals for the 51/9 houses increased.. by 80 % ;

the

rentals for the Public Servants who make use of stop order facilities were paid after 31 March 1985 and the regulation provides that rentals and service charges may be paid until the 7th day of the following month .

The increase ih tariffs

mentioned above were introduced during the year under review . The people could not quickly adjust to the new tariffs and deposits- hence the outstanding amounts .

However these amounts

have been recovered .

Social Pensions ,

31.

Paragraph 15 ( 3 )

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr Mativandlela ,

I

notice that R13 620 717

was paid to 20 356 beneficiaries in respect of various kinds of social pensions .

Could you please indicate to the

Committee the value of each type of pension ? -

( Mr

The value of each type of pension was as follows :

Mativandlela old age

pension is R53-50 per person per month ;

blind person's

pension is R53-50 per person per month ;

disability and

leprosy allowances is R53-50 per person per month and allowances payable to war veterans are R58-50 per month .

per person

The amounts mentioned above were increased with

effect from 1 October 1984 ,

that those which were at R53-50

were increased to R61-50 and for the war veterans the amount was increased

to R66-50 per

person per month .

- 18 -

Irregularities and losses ,

32.

Mr Chairman

Paragraph 15 ( 2 )

Mr Mativandlela ,

)

I notice that investigations

in regard to this theft has now been completed . kindly furnish full details On

? - ( Mr Mativandlela )

Could you

Mr Chairman

1983 it was discovered that two unused cheque

26 April

forms 60696 and 60697 were missing from the cheque book which was used as a specimen for printing new books . the matter to the Giyani Police on 27 April

We reported

1983.

Notice to

stop payment was received and answered by the Giyani Barclays Bank at 11h00 on 28 April 1983. both

The matter was reported to

the Treasury and the Auditor - General in terms of

Treasury Instruction Q

1.3.2 on 20 May 1983.

matter was still under investigation ,

While the

the Police informed us

that they had arrested one official of my department and two others in connection with the theft of the amount of This amount

R181 719.67 .

cheque number 60697 96996.

involved

three cheques ,

and cheque numbers 96 911 ,

namely

96995 and

It was then discovered that the cheque book series

96901-97000 was missing from the Reserve stock storeroom . It was from this cheque book that the other three cheques have been detached .

The three suspects have been arrested and

the hearing continues . Appropriation Account 33.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr Mativandlela ,

occurred on Programmes 4 , almost 90% ,

5 and 7.

I notice that savings These savings represent

65 % and 80 % respectively of the total amounts

budgeted for.

Could you please elaborate further on the main

reasons for these

savings ? -

( Mr

Mativandlela )

Mr

Chairman ,

the saving under programme 4 is due mainly to the additional amount of R151

000 derived from the sale of residential houses

which was erroneously programme 6.

allocated to programme 4 instead of

The amount voted under programme 4 was equal to

R43 100 and the expenditure was equal

to R17 806-60 .

The savings of R12 482-44 on salaries was due mainly to the vacant post of a Senior Official who went on study leave . Savings under programme

5 were due mainly to the posts of

three senior Professional Officials which were advertised but could not be filled as no applications were received .

· 19 --

The savings under programme 7 was due mainly to the amount of R460 000 which had been approved by the Treasury and committed for the erection of two schools at Madras and Calcutta which area had been affected by the clashes between the

Tsongas and the Sothos in the Mhala area .

The buildings

were only completed and handed over for use during the financial year 1985-86 .

1

- 20 -

Motorvehicles Paragraph 16 ( b )

34.

Mr Chairman )

Mr du Preez ,

I

notice that the kilometres

covered by Government vehicles have increased tremendously while on the other hand there was a decrease in the kilometres covered by subsidised vehicles .

Could you please explain

this variation to the committee ? -

( Mr du Preez )

Mr.

Chairman ,

the kilometres travelled by Government vehicles increased as a result

The

of their increase in number of vehicles .

kilometres covered by subsidized vehicles are less than the preceeding year because the subsidized vehicle scheme has been withdrawn from the officials who are not secretaries of the Departments ,

35.

and were added to Government owned vehicles .

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr du Preez ,

I

notice

were involved in accidents whilst

that 11 vehicles

irregularly used .

Could you

please furnish more information regarding these cases ? - ( Mr du Preez) Mr Chairman , the required information is as follows : Mr Sibuyi who was driving Gaz 7-750 had an accident on 22/09/1984 while he was unauthorised to use the vehicle ,

and

an amount of R595-35 as repair cost was recovered from him , and his licence was suspended . Gaz 8-1046 without authority ,

Mr Mathonsi

S.J.

a valid driver's licence and

who drove without

had an accident on 02/10/1984 which resulted in an

amount of R191,51

recovered from him .

Mr. Chabalala P.D.

drove Gaz 7-850 without authority and had an accident on 10/08/1984 .

An amount of R658,66 as repair cost was

recovered from him .

Mr Chairman ,

Mr Ritshuri M.C.

driver of

Gaz 5-967 on the 17/10/1984 deviated from his authorised route and he met with

an accident ,

the matter is still

pending between us and the Treasury .

Mr Bayana N. who drove

Gaz 5-791 on 22/09/1984 without authority had an accident ,

and

his case is still pending between us and the Treasury . Mr. Mabasa G.H.

who was the driver of Gaz 7-683 had an

accident on 02/02/1985 .

An amount of R1 394,59 was recovered

from him as he was not authorised to use the vehicle . Mr Chauke K.D.

who was not authorised to drive Gaz 3-1914 had

an accident on 22/11/1984 , repair costs .

R138,99 was recovered from him as

- 21 -

Mr Chauke C.

deviated from his authorised route whilst

driving Gaz 4-429 and had an accident on 18/02/1985 . An amount of R470,15 was recovered from him as repair cost plus an amount of R25.57 for the unauthorised kilometres . Mr.

Masehela M.B.

who was driving Gaz 8-774 on the 17/11/1984

deviated from his authorised route and had an accident ,

an

amount of R217,60 was recovered from him as repairs cost . Mr Hlungwani

J.J.

who was not authorised to use Gaz 4-1034

on the 20/12/1984 had an accident and died on the spot , the case was withdrawn and closed as the accused was dead , Mr Hlabangwana M.R.

and Mr Shirinda H.P.

and

were unauthorised

to use Gaz 7-1012 on the 20/02/1985 when they had an accident ,

and an amount of R131,17 as repair costs was

recovered from both of them .

36.

Mr du Preez ,

Mr Chauke )

suppose that the irregul

I

ar

after they were only discove vehicle s red ed in acciden . But what about the irregula have been involve ts d r use of the mention

use of Governm

when there were

vehicle

s

ent

ts

use of

Were there any cases of irregula

. as acciden ts

r

vehicle

s

brought

were not

involve

during the year under review which

light

to

( Mr du Preez ) Mr Chairma , n

in acciden ?ts

d

such

no insiden

were discove use of vehicle it is true that the irregula red s r But there were other

.

in acciden after having been involve t d

s

by my Transpo which were detecte rt d

cases of irregul ar

ities

ors

itinera

without

ries ,

some were carryin

rised

sed

and in some

were found driving after hours without authori

ty

cases the vehicle

s

approva

were parked at their homes without lars

e

documen

t

ed

present now .

which I would like to the annexur

indicat

are

More particu

. l

others

routes ,

from their authori

d

ers

unautho

g

some deviate

,

passeng

some drivers were found driving

In these cases

.

Inspect

prior

in the schedul

e

( Mr Matthews )

Chairma

Mr.

n,

is the

which Mr du Preez wants to present ,

of

I was referin to at the end of the conside g r

ation

my Vote that I want to withdra

. w

on the schedul

e

are incorre

, ct

the figures

,

Mr Chairma

n

for instance ,

it shows that

to My allocat use of vehicle 28 cases of irregul ed ar s ,

were discove

Departm

red

ent

was suspend

, ed

and from the 28 cases one officer

six were warned ,

means that the remaini

ng

and one was made to pay , which .

20 cases were neglect

ed

-

Mr Chairman ,

·

22

I wish to point

out that I am not aware of such

a high number of irregular use ,

for the number of such cases

which I know are far less than the ones indicated on the schedule .

Of all the cases which have been discovered ,

were taken against the responsible officers .

were even made to pay

Some of them

if they exceeded the number of Mr Chairmn ,

kilometres allocated to them for a month . so wish ,

documents be withdrawn ,

and that Mr.

I suggest that this

du Preez should contact I am

various accounting officers for correct information . laying the blame on him ,

for even if you

number of cases under his vote , the

42

charged .

if you

I may ask my staff to look for documents in this

connection for the Committee to inspect .

not

steps

reflected

cases

consider the

you will notice that out of

only

twenty

officers

were

I do not think that he would leave the other

22 cases unattended to. What I want to show is that his staff gave him incorrect information .

( Mr Mativandlela )

I wish to support the former accounting afficer , my Department ,

for even in

ther were 18 cases of irregular use of vehicles

according to the schedule , as have dealt with , ( Dr Robert )

Mr Chairman ,

and only four cases are indicated

which is false according to my records .

Mr Chairman ,

I

also support the last two speakers .

The information potrayed on the schedule

is not correct .

( Mr Chairman )

I wish to close this matter by commenting

as follows : -

I beg all Accounting officers to look for

correct information by contacting each other before anything is laid before the Committee in future . 37.

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr du Preez , from the statement on motor

motor accidents .

It appears that 347 vehicles were involved in accidents , if we compare this figure with the total number

?

of vehicles on hand during the year it would appear that almost one out of every three vehicles were Is this not extra - ordinary high ? .- ( Mr

involved in accidents . du Preez ) Mr.

Chairman ,

if you look in the attached schedule of the accidents ,

you will

see that on average we have one accident every 55 386 kilometres . If you consider the fact that it

is necessary for many officials

and officers to be on the road for a large their working time ,

proportion of

accidents are almost inevitable .

- 23 -

If you look at the Departments travelling most kilometres , you will notice that their frequency of accidents in terms of kilometres travelled is relatively low .

All in all I don't

believe that our accident rate is too bad .

That is not to say

It can be improved and every

that it cannot be improved .

effort needs to be made by people who have control

over our

vehicles to encourage good driving habits and to eliminate unnecessary use of vehicles .

38 .

Mr Chairman )

Mr du Preez ,

is it

possible that you

could furnish us with a make - up per Department of the 347 vehicles which were involved in accidents ? Mr Chairman ,

( Mr du Preez )

the make - up per Department of the vehicles which

were involved in accidents is as indicated in the schedule which I tabled here before .

39.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr du Preez ,

I

also

notice that R7 254 Could you

were paid in respect of damages and injuries . please give details of the cases involved ? -

( Mr du Preez )

Mr Chairman ,

the details of the cases are as follows : -

Accident Gaz

1-640 driven by Mr S.K.

damaged GY 14 and the owner claimed

Khosa on the 25/02/1982 R2

920.

The driver of

Government vehicle was found guilty by the court of law and made to pay the repair costs of the two vehicles .

The

second accident

Mathabela

causing damage

involved Gaz to Mr.

A.E.

1-897 driven by M.A.

Booth's vehicle 0. Me 13420 and

the latter claimed R934,00 being repair costs to his vehicle . In this case Mr Mathabela was acquitted and the third accident

was

for

Gaz

3-581

which

was

involved

an accident with HNY 960T while driven by Mr P. owner of vehicle HNY . sum of R3 400

9601 ,

Chuma .

in The

Panorama Bookshop claimed the

repair costs .

Added together the three amounts

totalled R7 254 .

40 .

Mr chauke )

Mr du Preez ,

programmes 4 and 6 reflects

savings of approximately 40 % and 45% respectively which appears to be extra - ordinarily high .

Could you please

elaborate further on the main reasons for this ? - ( Mr

du Preez )

- 24-·

Mr Chairman ,

the following are explanations regarding these

savings : - Under programmer 4 the savings were due mainly to the projects which could not be completed during the year . The Bural water pipeline E - Giyani NW which was 98 % complete ; Thulamahashe sewerage reticulation which was 95 % completed ; Thulamahashe water reticulation which was 85 % complete ; Thulamahashe sewerage purification plant which was 60% complete ;

Dwarsloop water reticulation which was 85%

complete ;

Mkhuhlu water supply which was 90 % complete ,

Continuation of Mhinga pipeline which was 85% complete ; Malamulele extension water and sewerage reticulation which was 50 % complete and Nkowankowa B water and sewerage reticulation which was 55% complete .

The above projects have since been

completed during the 1985/86 financial year except those that are of a perenial nature .

The savings under programme 6

were due mainly to the following projects which could not be completed during the year : Central

power reticulation for Giyani

business area which was 99 % complete ;

Office complex

for nature conservation which was not yet started with ; diagnostic centre phase 2 which was 85% completed ; Lemana high school which was 85 % completed ; centre which was 28% completed ; 0% completed ;

fencing of

Dzumeri health

Tiyani post office which was

Okkernootboom school which was 40% completed ;

Mkhuhlu post office which was 0 % completed and Ximhungwe post office which was also 0% completed .

The above projects have

since been completed during the 1985/86 financial year except for the office for nature conservation ,

Tiyani and Ximhungwe

post office .

41.

Mr Ngobeni )

electricity fees ,

Mr du Preez , I

concerning the matter of

understand that your Department is

responsible for the acquiring and distribution of electricity in Gazankulu .

Is the Government the only distributor of this

service or do other instances such as municipalities also supply us with electricity ? - ( Mr du Preez )

Mr Chairman ,

this

Government is the only distributor of electricity in Gazankulu ,

after buying electricity from the institutions

as follows : -

- 25 ·

Escom ,

for distribution at Mkhuhlu , Lulekani Tintswalo ,

Thulamahashe and Dwarsloop , at Nkowankowa ,

Tzaneen municipality for distribution

Berlyn and Mahwahwa school .

We buy

electricity from Lebowa Government for supply at Shiluvani Hospital and from Louis Trichardt municipality for supply at Elim Hospital ,

Giyani district and Malamulele district

the present agreement with Louis Trichardt municipality expires this year after which electricity will be supplied by Escom directly .

42 .

Mr Chair

) man

this servi

at what

from Escom ? - ( Mr du Preez )

tarif

f

do we acqui re

Mr Chair ma

, as n already indicated during the consideration of vote 2ce

I have ,

Mr du Preez ,

Interior ,

the following are the tariffs at which we acquire

this service from Escom : 2,263 cents .

KVA at R11.80 and KWN units at

To add on this Mr Chairman ,

I also give the

tariffs in respect of electricity supply by the Tzaneen and Louis Trichardt Municipalities .

Tzaneen municipality ,

KVA

at R10,43 and KWH units at 3,339 cents and Louis Trichardt municipality KVA at R14,12 and KWH units at 2,5 cents .

1984/85 STATISTICS ACCIDENT

OF SCHEDULE

100KM / CENTS

NO, VARIANCE PROSECUTED

+3,6

ACCIDENT /. RAND COST KM TOTAL PERCENTAGE

87,6

KILOMETRES ACCIDENTS NO.

8086-02

VEHICLES NO.

945 43

DEPT.

22,3 %

ACCIOF. NO NOT DENTS REPORTED

53

25

12

21

Withdrawn 12

42

922853

guilty 15 Withdrawn 25

94

-17,7

Minister Chief

66,7

-26,2

-36,7

28442-73

57,8

47,3

754 61

7315-54

2546,86

23,6 % 50613

474 24

68 24,2 %

37,9 %

4261006 25

22

288 1265327

538429

WORKS 103

58

EDUCATION

67

7

33 34817-34

prosecuted 9 guilty 3 Withdrawn 17 42017

-6,4

+72,3

31,5 %

77,6

156,3

53

4435,13

2226891

51969

guilty 3

guilty 1

-10,5

-62,1

73,5

21,9

guilty2

45061,18

757-78

-73,7

declined 25

discharged 2

38367

10,3

84,0

30053-26

161495,84

68840

64499

31,4 %

33,1 %

58,9 %

45 %

45,4 %

11

135

345300

347

95

571661

168

35

20

2960130

6127389

FINANCE

73

209

POLICE

1048

19218986

TOTAL MEAN

HEALTH

JUSTICE

AGRICULTURE

INTERIOR

/ CM

1

- 27 .

43.

Mr Chairman )

Brigadier Coetzee ,

a compensation payment

of R200 was paid in respect of an unlawful arrest and detention . Could you please give more information regarding this matter ? ( Brigadier Coetzee )

Mr Chairman ,

this Department paid an

amount of R200 to the plaintiff ( Joseph Davhane ) from the voted funds ( allocation no . allowances ) .

09 586 102 201- subsistence and travelling

Treasury Authority no .

F9 /6 /2 dated May 21

refers .

On 1983 July 31 the plaintiff Joseph Davhane was arrested detained as a suspect at Ritavi

and

Police station for stock theft .

He was released on 1983 August 01 without having been charged . He made a civil

case against the then

Minister

of Justice

and Police of the Gazankulu Government in which he claimed R200 for unlawful arrest and detention .

The State Attorney

who represented the responded ( Minister of Justice and police of the Gazankulu Government ) came to an agreement with lawyers representing the plaintiff ( Joseph Davhane ) for payment of the paintiff's settlement amount of R200

for damages he

suffered for unlawful arrest and detention .

44 .

Mr Hlayisi )

Brigadier Coetzee ,

I also notice that a large

saving of R784 246-36 which represents approximately 40% of the total amount budgeted for , 2.

occurred under Programme

Could you please elaborate further on the main reasons given

in the Report ? -

( Brigadier Cotzee ) Apart from the

already indicated

in my main

report dated 1985 September 16 ,

I should also like to indicate the following , financial year , under program 2.

reasons

in the 1984/85

only R350 000 was budgeted for salaries When the revised additional estimates of

expenditure were made towards the end of the 1984/85 financial year ,

an amount of R1

005 000 was given to this Department for

payment of salaries under Program 2.

The receipt of R1 005 000

towards the end of 1984/85 financial year as an additional estimates of expenditure for salaries under program 2 could be regarded as another cause of a large saving of R784 246-36 .

- 28 -

45.

Mr Chairman )

Mr Vukela ,

according to the footnote to

the Appropriation Account on page 18 of the Report ,

an amoure

of R3 191.90 appears to be in a suspense account which may be chargeable to your Vote . information in this

Could you please give more

regard to the Committee ? - ( Mr vukela )

Mr Chairman , the firm Tzaneen Pest Control approached and convinced schools to employ their pest spraying services without the approval of the Department of Education . Afterwards they submitted invoices and demanded immediate payment authority . Department

The Tender Board referred the matter to the

of Health for checking whether the service has The Department of Health has

been satisfactorily rendered .

of Justice for

since

referred the matter to the Department

legal

actions as they are not satisfied with the manner in

which the matter was handled .

Mr Chairman ,

I don't know if there are any follow - up questions .

However I wish to make the following information available to the meeting :

As a Department we

issued a circular to all

our school advising them no longer to use the services of the firm in question .

We were suprised when a representative of

the firm came to submit other invoices claiming services rendered .

We refused to honour the claims ,

threatened to take us to court . proceed if he against us .

payment for

so wished ,

but

and he

We adviced that he could

up to now no action has been taken

I must end by indicating Mr Chairman that the

suspense account has not yet been cleared .

- 29 -·

Outstanding Revenue Paragraph 10 ( 2 )

46.

Mr Chairman )

Mr venter ,

I notice that revenue amounting

to R74 570 was outstanding at the end of the year .

Could

you please give an indication to the Committee of the nature of the outstanding amount .

( Mr Venter )

The nature of the

outstanding amount of R74 570 was made up as follows : Trading licences were R728-60 , R48 805-84 and Provisional

motor vehicle licences were

tax amounted to R25 036-41 ,

thus bringing the total to R74 570 .

47.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr Venter ,

are you satisfied that outstanding

amounts are being followed up regularly ? - ( Mr Venter ) I am satisfied that outstanding amounts are being followed up regularly and that the said amounts are being collected in the normal course of duties .

Mr Chauke )

48.

Mr Venter ,

money amounting to R32

I

notice that theft of Government

553 was reported during the year .

Could

you please give more information in this regard ? - ( Mr Venter) The case of theft of Government money amounting to R32 553 reported during the period under review was committed by Mr. Maswanganyi of the Magistrate Giyani .

N.A.

This amount was for sales

tax which the Magistrate office collects on behalf of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue- Pretoria .

The matter has been

duly reported to the Police and Mr Maswanganyi had been convicted by the Regional Court .

Concerning the amount

embezzled a court order has been made that Mr. must refund the amount .

Maswanganyi

Regular payments at R650 per

month are being effected by Maswanganyi ,

and the necessary

steps are also being taken by the Magistrate Giyani to transfer all payments made by Mr Maswanganyi to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue- Pretoria .

Mr Mawanganyi has been since

dismissed from the Public Service .

49 .

Mr Ngobe

ni )

Mr Marai

paid over to the RSA , by the Gazan ku

lu

Gazan

kulu

Goven

, s

sales tax is

does

it mean that no loss is sust a

nment

? - ( Mr Marai ) s

Gover

ment

due to the fact that

susta

ined

ined

Mr Chair m

the loss throu

gh

, the

an this theft .

C

- 30 -

50 .

Mr Chairman ) Mr Venter , what is the total amount recovered

from the accused ? - ( Mr Venter ) Mr Chairman ,

the total amount

recovered from the accused to date is R9 150,01 .

51.

Mr Hlayisi )

committed ?

Mr Venter ,

over what period was the offence

( Mr Venter ) Mr Chairman ,

information ,

according to the available

the offence was committed during the period

between 1979 and 1983 .

52.

is a proper checking system being

Mr Chauke ) Mr Venter ,

followed in that office and

if so , was it not possible to

detect the irregularity at an early stage ? - ( Mr Venter ) Mr Chairman , office .

proper checking system is being followed

It was not possible to detect the irregularity at an

early stage ,

because the amounts appearing on the duplicate

receipts which were analysed total

in that

amount

in the cash book agreed with the

collected and banked .

To clarify the committee

more on what happened is that Tax payers used to request accounts officers attached to the Magistrate to complete assessment forms on their behalf .

The Tax payer was then

requested to pay certain amount as assessed , was reflected on the original

receipt

and that amount

issued to the Tax payer .

The officer then reflected a lesser amount on the duplicate receipts and on the assessment forms .

The above - mentioned made

it difficult for the office to discover the irregularity at an early stage .

53.

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr Venter ,

were any steps taken to ensure

that incidents of this nature will not occur in the future ? - ( Mr Venter ) Mr Chairman ,

steps have been taken to ensure

that incidents of this nature should not occur in the future , for instance , forms

( V.B.

5)

if sales tax payers did not receive assessment from Pietersburg ,

given to sales tax payers .

blank V.B.5 forms are not

All sales tax payers must complete

their own or their book - keepers should complete the forms for them .

Officers of my Department or those attached to

Magistrate offices are not allowed , to assist the payers to complete V.B.5 assessment

forms .

sales tax

- 31 -

Officers attached to the three months .

revenue office are rotated

every

(Chairman ) we have come to the end of

vote 6- Justice and we will now continue with vote 7 - Health and Welfare .

-32 .

Outstanding Revenue paragraph 10 ( 2 )

54.

Mr Chairman )

Dr

Robert ,

it appears that revenue

amounting to R67 413 was outstanding at 31 March 1985 in respect of your Department . outstanding amount ? - ( Dr Mr Chairman ,

Robert )

the outstanding revenue of R67 413 is made

up of W.C.A cases , 911 hospitals .

in- and outpatients fees in respect of

A large part of the outstanding revenue is in

respect of W.C.A.

cases .

statement Mr Chairman , concerning W.C.A.

55.

What is the nature of the

is that

additional information

cases has been given in my reply to question

Robert ,

Dr

Mr Hlayisi )

Particulars to substantiate this

could you please give an

indication to the committee of the outstanding amount for every hospital ? - ( Dr Robert ) The outstanding amount for every hospital is as follows, Mr Chairman at Elim hospital we have an outstanding amount of R26 506,60 ; R22 987,00 ;

at Letaba it amounts to

at Malamulele Hospital the outstanding amount

amounted to R3 293,50 ;

at Nkhensani hospital there was an

outstanding amount of R4 290,75 ;

at Shiluvane hospital the

outstanding amount was P.2 077,30 and for Tintswalo hospital an amount of R8 258,00

56.

Mr Chauke )

Dr

is outstanding .

Robert ,

are you satisfied that steps were

taken regularly to follow - up outstanding amounts ? - ( Dr Robert ) Mr Chairman ,

it

is my wish that all outstanding revenue ,

especially W.C.A.

more

cases which form a large part of the

outstanding revenue , be recovered before the end of the financial year , before payment

but channels through which these cases go is received are rather lengthy .

On admission ,

an Employer's Report is completed and a copy thereof 13 kept in the patient's bedletter whilst the employer retains the original for transmission Commissioner .

to the workmen's compensation

On receipt of

first medical report ,

the report ,

for an example ,

the workmen's compensation commissioner

then assesses the case and pays the hospital account .

56 .

- 33 -

You will realise Mr Chairman , above make

it

that the channels indicated

impossible for my Department to recover the

outstanding amounts in good time .

You will notice from

my reply to question 55 that Elim hospital and Letaba hospital had outstanding amounts of R26 506,60 and R22 987,00 The reason

respectively as compared to the other hospitals . thereof can be ascribed to

industries and firms situated near

these hosptials and whose

injured employees are treated at

these hospitals .

Allow me Mr Chairman ,

Committee that my Department

to

inform the

takes the necessary steps to

recover the outstanding revenue by way of written reminders in as far as W.C.A.

cases and also for in - and outpatient

accounts are concerned .

It is also my wish that in - and

outpatients pay the prescribed fees before being treated ,

but

this is practically impossible to implement due to the fact that it would be contrary to the ethics of the medical profession .

As a result ,

some accounts under this category

of patients remain unpaid for a long time .

Some reminders

are even returned unclaimed from the post office . Mr

Chaiman ,

I wish to

report to the committee that the amounts

indicated hereunder were year .

However ,

recovered during the 1985-86 financial

Elim hospital had an outstanding amount of R26 506,60 ,

and an amount of R11

888,00 has since been recovered .

hospital had an outstanding amount of R22 987,00

Letaba

and an amount

of R17 877,00 was recovered during 1985-86 financial year . Malamulele hospital had an amount of R3 293,50 outstanding and an amount of R353,50 has since been recovered .

Shiluvane

hospital had an outstanding amount of R2 077,30 and out of this an amount of R425,00 was recovered .

Lastly , Tintswalo

hospital had an outstnaing amount of R8 258,00 and an amount of R1 204,00 has since been recovered .

Mr Chairman

I wish to

conclude by saying that my Department is making all efforts possible to recover these outstanding amounts .

Irregularities and losses paragraph 20

57 .

Mr Ngobeni )

Dr

moneys totalling R36

Robert ,

I

255,60 were

notice that theft of Government reported during the year .

34 .

Could you please furnish more details ?

Mr Chairman ,

on

(Dr_robert )

or about June 1984 , when checking payments

registers against the daily cashbook , Division of my Department

the Head of the Accounts

noticed that payments which had no

bearing on the activities of my department were made . All these fraudulent payments were made through general payment vouchers which are commonly called L 3's . the relevant vouchers were sought

for ,

Mr Chairman ,

but could not be found ,

except for one which was recovered from the Computer Section attached to the Department of Finance . the voucher that Mr Mabunda , Division of my Department ,

It was noticed from

a clerk attached to the Accounts

had prepared ,

approved and

submitted such fraudulent vouchers for payment . the Accounts Division then made transaction list

22nd of June

photo - copies of the batch header ,

and voucher and locked up same

The original documents 1984 ,

in the safe .

were left on Mr Mabunda's table .

at about 07hrs

30 min . ,

Accounts Division of my Department Mr.

The Head of

the Head of the

demanded an explantion from

Mabunda as to what the payment was ,

for it had no

bearing on the activities of my Department .

He denied knowledge

thereof and the matter was reported to the Gazankulu He was subsequently arrested and three cheques

R13 043,68 were payment .

On the

Police .

totalling

recovered before being presented for

Further investigations

totalling R23 211,92

revealed that cheques

issued in favour of suppliers some of

whom had no contract with the Department were made .

These

fraudulent cheques were banked with Standard Bank Tzaneen except for one for R699,60 which was cashed at Frasers Giyani .

In their investigations the Police

cheques in the amount of R22

in

discovered that

512,32 were deposited into a

fictitious account through one and the same teller .

The

officer was subsequently tried by the court and found guilty of fraud on one account .

The Gazankulu police are still

investigating the case involving fraudulent 92. amount of R23 211,9

My Department will only be able to know

what course of action to case has been

received .

payments in the

take when the police Report on this

- 35 .-

Mr Chairman ,

I wish to add here that my department is amazed

to find out that the investigation time .

Up to now ,

is taking such a long

Mr Mabunda is not yet brought to the court

of law to be tried for these outstanding amounts .

58.

Mr Hlayisi )

according to your view , do you

Dr. Robert ,

think it was only Mr.

Mabunda who was involved in these

activities in your Department ? - ( Dr Robert ) far as I know in our department

as

Mr Chairman ,

it was only him involved

but there are some people involved outside our department , such as the teller at Standard Bank Tzaneen . be other people involved ,

There might

but I am not in possession of all

the facts .

Appropriation Account

59 .

Mr Chairman )

Dr.

Robert ,

programme 4 amounted to R142

I notice

342,29 which represents

approximately 26 % of the total reason for the saving

that the saving on

amount

budgeted for .

The main

is ascribed to subsidies to the

Evuxakeni hospital which could not be fully utilized . what extent do the Government ( Dr Robert) Mr Chairman ,

Το

subsidise this institution ? -

my Department entered into an

agreement with the Smith Mitchell organisation whereby the latter was allowed to erect a in Giyani .

500 bed psychiatric hospital

The agreement stipulates inter - alia the following : -

That the organisation will provide

services to the patients

in the hospital at a tariff agreed upon by the two parties ; that there shall be an annual revision of the tariff on the first day of April

in each year equal to 10 % which will be

adjusted upwards or downwards on the basis of the Consumer Price Index or on negotiable basis on presentation of financial statements by the organisation and that the Department will be entitled to a reduction equal to

10% on reimbursement

for services , should the occupancy of the hospital 90% of full capacity.

Mr Chairman ,

signed on the 24th of April assured my Department

fall below

the agreement was eventually

1984 and the organisation

that the hospital would be erected

within six months from the date of signing of the agreement ,

- 36 -

but due to unforseen circumstances ,

the hospital was only

completed towards the end of December

1984.

As a result

the hospital started admitting patients on the first January 1985.

It may also be mentioned ,

experience for Gazankulu

Mr Chairman ,

that

to have such a hospital ,

as first my department

could not know exactly whether the 500 beds would be filled immediately . Occupancy

Over and above that Mr Chairman ,

the hospital

was below 90 % of full occupancy during January ,

February and March 1985 hence the total set aside for the reimbursement

amount of R400 000

for services rendered by

the organisation could not be fully utilised .

60.

Mr Hlayisi )

Dr.

Robert ,

I

also

notice that the saving on

programme 5 represent 34% of the total Could you please elaborate saving of R245 277,45 ? -

amount budgeted for .

further on the main

reason for the

( Dr Robert ) Mr Chairman ,

in this

programme provision is made for salaries for officers and employees seconded to the Letaba

Institution

for the

Handicapped and Aftercare Centre and the Rivoni for the blind . also made

Over and above that Mr Chairman ,

for the poor

relief .

Society provision is

Allow me Mr Chairman ,

to

bring to the notice of the Committee the following : My department has since establishment been responsible for subsidising the

Institution and Aftercare Centre at Letaba

as well as making provision for salaries for staff seconded to this also

institution .

involved ,

As the Department

my department

of Education was

requested the Public Service

Commission to conduct an investigation so as to determine the extent of my department's involment in the to the removal of the uneducable hospital .

In other words ,

Institution due

inmates to the Evuxakeni

the saving of a quarter of a

million Rand is directly related to the opening of Evuxakeni hospital . Institution

Through the opening of Evuxakeni hospital , lost many of its inmates ,

the reduction of a subsidy to the number of staff .

the Letaba

and this involved

Institution and also in the

· 37 -

It was also noticed from the Report published by the Public Service Commission that my department

should only be

responsible for subsidy to the Aftercare Centre as well as The Institution was as a

salaries for seconded staff .

result of these findings splitted into two namely , the Letaba school for the Handicapped and the Aftercare Centre which was placed under the Department respectively .

of Education and my department

The posts were also splitted ;

those to be

attached to the Department of Education were abolished from the staff establishment of my Department and created in the establishment of the Department of Education , considerable saving .

hence a

The saving on salaries Mr.

due mainly to the arrangement mentioned above ,

Chairman ,

was

as also to the

fact that suitable staff to fill the approved vacant posts could not

be obtained .

an amount of R213

Mr Chairman ,

under transfer payments ,

122,00 of a total of R275 540,00 in

of subsidy was utilised during the year under review . me to inform the Committee , R59 940 was set

aside

Mr Chairman ,

respect Allow

that an amount of

for subsidy to the Aftercare Centre .

As the Aftercare Centre was part and parcel of the Institution , my Department

realised that the subsidy already approved

was adequate to cover their expenditure , R62 428,00 .

hence the saving of

It sounds more complicated and complex ,

make it more simple Mr Chairman , Centre was not increased ,

but

to

the subsidy to the Aftercare

it was maintained at low level ,

because it now maintained a less number of inmates as some were transfered to Evuxakeni

hospital .

The reduction

of inmates was not anticipated for when the original budget was made hence a large saving .

- 38 -

Revenue Fund Paragraph 5

61.

Mr Chairman ) I notice from the statement

balance of R2 593,59 as at R2 805 896,93 as at

perhaps comment

1/04/1984 has increased to From this it would appear

31/03/1985 .

that the Revenue Fund

Could the Treasury

is weakening .

on this ? -

true that the position

that the debit

( Mr Mdungazi )

Mr Chairman ,

fund

is mainly due

The

to the impact

of unauthorised expenditure has made in the past during the

expenditure amounting

18

of the Revenue Fund is weakening .

weak position of the Revenue

Mr Chairman ,

it

1981/82

financial

to R3 417 286,90 ,

to R4 622 898,73 and in 1983/84

it

few years .

year we had unauthorised

in

1982/83 it

amounted to

R9

amounted

011

503,89

It is clear from the aforementioned figures of unauthorised expenditure that the Revenue Fund had to provide for funds not budgeted for , I wish to

thus its position

indicate that

is being weakening .

during 1984/85 financial year ,

departments tried their level best of their voted funds ,

However

to stay within the limits

and as already indicated before ,

it

seems during the 1984/85 they tried to take heed of the Treasury's request .

I then want

to take this opportunity to thank them

for trying by all means to stay within the limits of their voted amounts .

State debt ,

62.

Paragraph 6

Mr Hlayisi ) According to this paragraph ,

increased by R12 725 000. the purpose for these

which amount

Could the Treasury perhaps explain

loans ? -

according to the Report ,

the state debt

( Mr Mdungazi )

the state debt

Mr Chairman ,

increased by R12

725 000 ,

acrued from loans raised to finance part of the

estimates of expenditure of R167 258 000 for the financial year 1984/85 .

Two loans were

raised on the 8th of June 1984 ,

particulars of which are as follows : raised on the 8th June

1984 ,

A loan of R10 000 000

bearing an interest

rate of

is 19 years ,

and a loan

of R2 725 000 raised on the 8th of June 1984 ,

bearing an

16,35% and its term of repayment

interest

rate of 16,55 % and its term of payment is 9 years .

39

The total

state debt then amounted to R29 075 000 as at

31 March 1985.

The purpose

for the raising of the above-

mentioned two loans was to finance the following projects which were included in the estimates of expenditure for Vote 3 -Works and Vote 5-

Agriculture and Forestry :

Under Vote

3 -Works the following projects were undertaken : complex Giyani is R120 000 ;

Hoxani pumpstation is R30 000 ;

Veterinary diagnostic centre is R100 000 ; cork and Allandale is R25 000 ; the Handicaped ,

School ,

Buildings

for these here is R1 381 000 ;

S.A.B.C.

for Letaba School for High School ,

Bankuna High School ,

Letaba Hospital and Nkhensani

is R120 000 ;

Electricity supply-

Akani High School , Nahwahwa

Shingwedzi High School ,

Office

Ripambeta High

Hospital ,

the whole amount

Office complex Mhala ,

the amount

Magistrate Offices Malamulele is R80 500 ;

buildings ,

R105 000 ;

Hlomela road and Malamulele

Bridges for Thomo- Gawula-

road ,

R143 600 ;

Hudson Ntsanwisi

dam water purification works ,

R100 000 ;

R269 000 ;

Mhala R125 000 ;

Electricity supply ,

supply , Malamulele , subsidised and

R90 000 ;

Water supply ,

Electricity

Purchase of additional ,

replacement of Government vehicles ,

Government Headquarters ,

Ritavi ,

phase II and III ,

R2 013 000 ;

R3 565 000 ;

Purchase of additional and replacement of government major equipment , machines ,

R1 600 000 ;

Purchase of replacement

R400 000 and the total amount

3 being R12

102

100.

Under vote 5-

the following projects were loans : Ntlhaveni dam Bend - Hlaneki - Homu and the total Mr Chairman ,

allocated under vote

Agriculture and Forestry

financed from the above mentioned

( Pongolo River ) ,

scheme ,

trucks &

R500 000 ;

R19 900 ;

Coffee ,

Contractors ,

Ritavi ,

R103 000

amount allocated under vote 5 being R622 900 . an amount of R12 102

100 allocated under Vote

3- Works plus an amount of R622 900 allocated under Vote 5Agriculture and Forestry amount to R12 725 000 which is the total amount of loans

Outstanding revenue ,

63.

Mr Chauke )

raised during the 1984/85 financial year .

Paragraph 10 ( 2 )

I notice from paragraph 10 ( 2 )

to the amount of R1 008 813 was outstanding at

that

revenue

31 March 1985 .

- 40 -

Mr Marais ,

according to the Report this figure does not

include

arreas in respect of special tax and dipping and grazing fees . Could you kindly give a reason for this ? in respect

( Mr.

Marais ) Arrears

of special tax and dipping and grazing fees are

not included in the outstanding revenue of R1

008 813 due to

a technical error committed when producing computer print - outs from special tax file .

A step which produces a list of

outstanding revenue from special tax and dipping and grazing fees was omitted . as the file

This step could no longer be carried out

is updated immediately each and every step is done .

This computer programmes were however adjusted so that no step can be omitted in the procedure .

The computer will immediately

give

a signal when a step is omitted .

64.

Mr Ngobeni ) Mr Marais ,

is your Department in the position over the collection

to exercise completed control special taxes ? -

( Mr Marais )

of the those

the Miagistrates

Mr Chairman ,

offices , Tribal Chiefs and headmen collect

special

taxes on

behalf of the Department of Finance on urgency basis . The Magistrate officers

frequently undertake tax tours as

follow - up of outstanding special

tax .

They work , in co - ordination

with Tribal Chiefs and headmen who ensure that eligible taxpayers are assembled in one place when the tax tour group from Magistrate offices arrive . work in the urban areas the collected special cards .

tribal chiefs and headmen

tax when the worker renew their calling

Special tax is also deducted annually during June

from salaries of public Revenue .

As regard tax payers who

servants and paid over to Inland

The Department of Finance maintains

a special tax

master file in the computer which updates payments of each and every individual

taxpayer .

A computer printout

is then

produced at the end of the tax year to enlighten the Department of the taxpayers who are in arrear with their payments so that this Department is in the position to exercise complete control over the collection

65.

Mr Chairman ) Mr Marais ,

of special taxes .

are you satisfied that all

relevant tax payers are being reached ? -

( Mr Marais )

-- 41 -

concerning special tax please refer to my reply in paragraph 64 above .

Concerning

Income Tax this Department has two Assessing

subsection falling under inland Revenue Section . sub section :

This sub section ensures that all people who

are having trading licences are

registred for tax

purposes .

They obtain inputs of new trading licence holders from Magistrate Offices . salary I.T.R.

Concerning Public servants who earn

1 forms are sent to all unregistered salary

cases for personal particulars every year with a view of registering

- them if their annual

income

qualifies .

P.A.Y.E.

subsection : This subsection deals specifically with employees tax . P.A.Y.E.

This subsection

inspection ,

that P.A.Y.E.

frequently undertakes

more especially with business ,

to ensure

is correctly deducted from employers and paid

over to Receiver of Revenue .

Sales

tax ,

as you are aware is

still controlled by the Receiver of Revenue of the Republican Government who has an inspection team ,

for that

purpose .

The

collection is however paid over to the Receiver of Gazankulu .

66. ·

Mr Hlayisi ) Mr Marais ,

( Mr Marais )

Mr Chairman ,

is this tax collected and controlled ? Special

tax and dipping and

grazing fees are collected in the manner detailed in paragraph 64 above .

Concerning Income Tax the Assessing subsection

mentioned above raise assessments for all individual at the end of every tax year with effect of assessment .

tax payers

from the 1985 year

An assessment form ( IT 34 )

is issued and sent

to all taxpayers to inform them whether the results show a debit or a credit .

In the case of a credit

and in the case of a debit off .

For sales tax

67 Mr Chauke )

I

a refund is made

a taxpayer is requested to pay it

refer you to paragraph 65 above .

Mr Marais ,

how do you deal with defaulters- is

it through the Office of the magistrate or at Head Office level ? level

( Mr Marais ) The defaulters are dealt with at head office in co - ordination with the Magistrate offices .

If the

tax payer fails to pay the tax due by due date a final demand for payment of tax is fowarded to such a tax payer . is still no reaction a summon

If there

is issued whereby a tax payer

will be required to appear before court and be prosecuted .

- 42 ·

The tax payer will under such circumstances be required to Pay a fine and penalties over and above the tax due .

68.

Mr Ngobeni )

Mr Marais ,

what is the nature of the outstanding

amount of R317 627 ? - ( Mr Marais ) Mr Chairman , amount of R317 627 is provisional as follows :

Giyani- R143 989 ;

and Malamulele- R11

69.

the outstanding

tax which is made up

Mhala-

R73 867 ;

Ritavi-

R88 282 ,

489 and thus bringing the total to R317 627 .

Mr chairman ) Mr Marais ,

duty it is to carry out

do you have a specific team whose

internal

investigations

provisional tax is paid correctly ? - ( Mr.

to ensure that

Marais ) Mr Chairman

the assessing sub section mentioned in paragraph 65 above is responsible for amongst others , Financial statements are of every tax year .

business assessing .

fowarded to this office at the end

Assessments based on financial statements

are raised to ensure that correct provisional tax is paid , failing which interest and penalties are assessor

is not

imposed .

satisfied with the financial

submitted by the tax payer ,

an inspection

If an

statements

is carried out on

such a tax payer's business to verify or determine the net result for the tax year as well as the true state of affairs of the business with a view of taxing the tax payer correctly with penalties if necessary .

70.

Mr Hlayisi )

Mr Marais ,

are you

satisfied that sufficient

control measures exist

for the follow - up of outstanding

revenue ?

Mr Chairman ,

( Mr Marais )

with regard to sufficient

control measures for the follow - up of outstanding I would like to mention team ( The Revenue

revenue

that this Department have a special

Inspectors ) with the specific duty of making

a follow - up or outstanding

revenue .

This team carries out

revenue inspection and compiles a report of the nature of the outstanding revenue after each and every inspection carried out .

Such a report

also serves as a request

to

institutions

concerned to make a follow - up on such outstanding

revenue .

- 43 -

RESOLUTION OF THE SESSIONAL

COMMITTEE ON

PUBLIC

ACCOUNTS FOR

1985

AND

TREASURY

RESOLUTION

NO .

Your Committee

REPLY THEREON

1

begs

to

report

that

items

of

expenditure

amounting to

R9 011 503,89 specified in paragraph 4 , page 2 , of the Report of the Auditor - General on the Appropriation Accounts for 1983-84 ( G.R. 1985 ) are unauthorised and require to be voted . Your Committee , having made enquiry into the circumstances , recommends the above sum for specific appropriation by the Legislative Assembly , apportioned

as follows :

On Revenue Services-

Vote

Education

R3 619

Vote 5-

Agriculture

Vote 7-

Health

(Questions

REPLY :

4-

34-42 ,

70-80

The recommended

R3 134 752,54

and Forestry . Welfare . ·

and

and

R2

257 528,51

93-96 )

appropriation of the

of

R9

011

503,89 was disposed

Gazankulu Unauthorised Expenditure no . 3 of 1985 ) during the 1985 session

of by the passing ( 1983/84 ) Act , 1985 ( Act of the Legislative Assembly .

MAN SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY GAZANKULU GOVERNMENT

222,84

HJ82.3 G39 G39a

HOOVER INSTITUTION To avoid fine, this book should be returned on or before the date last stamped below

1986

HJ82.3 Hoover Institution Library

6396 39 1986

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