Parliament's bleak picture
THE picture painted by Parliament's annual report released by Auditor-General Terence Nombembe yesterday is very disconcerting - to say the least.
The report reveals that R4,9million worth of irregular expenditure is under investigation in Parliament.
Parliament chalked up a further R12,6million of "fruitless and wasteful expenditure", the report also reveals.
This relates to Parliament's failure to recoup the money it was defrauded by its members and travel agencies involved in the 2004 Travelgate scandal.
The scandal saw 31 members of Parliament being fingered for defrauding the institution of R24million in travel vouchers.
There has always been a perception that Parliament had dealt with the MPs with kid gloves for their involvement in the scandal.
None of them went to jail. They were mostly expected to repay the money.
Unfortunately, according to the report, this has hardly even happened.
Only R14000 was recouped, as the report has revealed.
According to the report, Parliament also overspent in administration by R52,2million.
Parliament is not only supposed to uphold the Constitution of the country, but to also serve as a model of efficient governance.
It is from Parliament that other government departments are expected to learn how to run a tight ship when it comes to public coffers.
Yesterday's report, unfortunately, paints a bleak picture in this regard.
Makonese
And one wonders why these ministers (read Sisulu et al) are refusing to account to this parliament and its committees. Who wants to account to an unaccountable and corrupt body anyway. The rot starts at the top. The travelgate thieves should all have gone to jail and thanks to Thabo, who is apparently a sworn enemy of the same thieving cadres (oops... government) that he protected, the thieves had another take on stealing.Report Abuse