HEALTH PS MOST FINED IN AG’S REPORT

MBABANE – The Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health, Dr Simon Zwane, endured the highest number of fines among government controlling officers as depicted in the Auditor General (AG) Timothy Matsebula’s audit compliance report for the year ended March 2021.

The compliance audit is an assessment of whether the provisions in the applicable laws, policies, rules, regulations, Circulars, general orders and other instruments as well as various orders and instructions issued by the competent authority are being complied with. Compliance audits promote good governance and accountability by identifying weaknesses and reporting non-compliance (deviations from) and violations of authorities (laws and regulations), so that corrective action may be taken and those accountable may be held responsible for their actions. Usually, when the controlling officer is found to have been irresponsible in management of funds in their respective ministries, they are fined E400 by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Anomalies

Out of the multiple anomalies noted by the AG at the Health Ministry, four amounted to a fine that is paid by the controlling officer and it is a standard fine of E400. This means Dr Zwane is expected to pay at least E1 600 in fines as per the recommendations of the PAC. One of the anomalies noted by the AG was that the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) processed payments amounting to E15 612 021.78 for the booking of accommodation OF health officials who were working on the COVID-19 pandemic and patients who needed quarantine and isolation. Incurring of this expenditure was not monitored by the NDMA in consultation with the Ministry of Health. There were no lists sent to the accommodation providers outlining the names and number of officials and patients to be booked for.

Pay

However, the PS in the Ministry of Health will pay this one as recommended by the PAC. The AG also reported that the financial statements at the Ministry of Health showed a revaluation surplus (gain) on land and buildings amounting to E235 922 095 which was realised in the year under review. The revaluation was done by Christian Amoako & Co (Pty) Ltd on  June 11, 2021. He noted that the revaluation surplus (gain) was quite significant, that is, double the original value of E171 547 582 and a 141 per cent value increase to E413 061 286.
He, therefore, requested the management to avail the valuation report of the independent surveyor who conducted the evaluation. PS in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, Melusi Masuku, was slapped with three fines by the PAC and part of the anomalies that led to the fines included payments amounting to E1 350 930 made for unoccupied rooms at Siteki Hotel.
The payments, according to the AG, were processed through voucher numbers STR1097, STR915, STR1276 and STR1337.

“Although stated in the contract, this is a unique case as other accommodation providers did not charge such. The rationale of this decision could not be established. Also, there was no evidence that the contracts were approved by the Attorney General,” stated Matsebula in his report. The controlling officer, however, submitted that, due to the contagious nature of COVID-19, hotels used for health officials and patients were quarantined and blocked from use by the public, which meant that government had to pay for the unoccupied rooms as well.

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