The Inter-Ministerial Task Team, appointed by the national government to look into the administration of the embattled North West, has introduced four additional administrators in the affected departments.
A new memorandum of understanding was signed with departments of Education, Public Works, Community Safety and the Office of the Premier. The four will join the Health Department’s administrator who started addressing the crisis affecting the sector over two months ago.
Residents in various parts of the North West staged violent protests earlier this year against alleged corruption in the administration of former Premier Supra Mahumapelo, and lack of service delivery.
This lead to establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team in April. It then invoked section 100 of the Constitution to place the province under administration.
Now the Inter-Ministerial Task Team says it has detected critical areas which need serious attention.
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene led the signing of the Memorandum on behalf of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team leader, Minister in the Presidency Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
“We are looking at areas of governance. We are looking at those who were reported in a public space in terms of the irregular expenditure and some of the contracts that need to be reviewed. All of those things are now being worked on in order to be able to address those challenges. But the focus is service delivery which was the reason why there was an intervention,” Nene explains.
The new North West Premier Job Mokgoro agrees, saying the challenges have been highlighted in recent reports by the Auditor General and the National Treasury.
National Treasury report, which was recently presented before parliament, indicates that the office of the Premier has seen poor executive and financial decisions dating back three or four years.
The report says the provincial government had R15.3-billion in irregular expenditure at the end of March last year.
Mokgoro says financial management will be a priority for the Task Team. “The one that has really been highlighted by the IMTT process as well as by the auditor general and the national treasury are serious weaknesses coming to financial management as well as supply chain management. There are other areas , but this are particularly critical.”
The Inter-Ministerial Task Team also briefed the provincial government on its progress.
Meanwhile, Dr Sibusiso Mpanza has been instructed to look into the Office of the Premier.
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