Lack of consequences for poor performance and transgressions on the part of contractors remains a significant hurdle to tackling South Africa’s service delivery challenges, delegates heard at the CESA Infrastructure Indaba.
Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) corporate executive Alice Muller stated that a number of AGSA reports found that the poor performance among contractors also stemmed from a capacity deficit, owing to employment instability and vacancies in key positions.
Finally, slow responses by management teams in dealing with poor performance and transgression further contributed to poor audit outcomes.
AGSA’s national and provincial audit outcomes 2013/14 had found that national and provincial government departments had incurred irregular expenditure of R31.9-billion.
This amount did not include R30.8-billion irregular expenditure disclosed by the Department of Public Works following an investigation of tenders including but not limited to the 2013/14 period.
AGSA’s report found irregular expenditure to the tune of about R33-billion for infrastructure projects relating to health and education facilities, as well as human settlement projects.
Muller said the report had found that projects had not been effectively managed and monitored, resulting in additional costs being incurred, significant project delivery delays and new or updated infrastructure having structural defects, as norms and standards had not been adhered to.
