Please see attached soundbites in English and IsiXhosa by Mlindi Nhanha MP
On Wednesday, the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) confirmed in a letter to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development that the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development only submitted its Annual Financial Statements (AFS) on the evening of 30 September – four months after the deadline.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will exercise our oversight duties and submit parliamentary questions to the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development to determine what led to this failure, who was responsible, and what consequences will be imposed.
This deeply concerning disclosure first emerged at an urgent meeting of the Portfolio Committee on 1 October, convened to probe the Department’s failure to submit its AFS to the AGSA. The four-month delay not only raises serious concerns about the Department’s financial management, governance, and accountability, but also significantly impairs Parliament’s ability to exercise effective oversight.
This is particularly worrying, given the Minister’s remarks at the Portfolio Committee meeting that the Department previously had to return nearly R2 billion allocated for land restitution to National Treasury because it could not spend the funds. With thousands of land claims still outstanding, this calls into question the Department’s capacity to fulfil its mandate.
The Department’s late submission of its AFS to AGSA indicates serious failures in financial management, accountability and the Department’s ability to fulfil its core mandate. The Minister promised to apply consequence management to those responsible for the Department’s failure to meet the deadline. The DA will hold him to his word.