THE absence of a national accountant for a seven to eight-month period last year had led to considerable disarray in Cosatus finances, according to an inside source.
As a result, the auditing of the federations accounts had taken much longer and cost more than it should have done, being finalised just before the national congress. And the recovery of loans to staffers had suffered.
Cosatu said the claims were a mixture of half- truth and fantasy.
It is understood the audited figures make provision for bad debts of some R250 000 on a budget of some R12-million. Some of the bad debts relate to vehicle loans to staffers, who are expected to repay 30 percent of the purchase price over a two- year period.
The source alleged there was a reluctance to tackle senior leaders with outstanding loans, and that some staffers appeared to regard vehicles as a perk.
Cosatu spokesman Neil Coleman said R250 000 was a yardstick figure employed by auditors and that the federation had recovered most of the debts already written off over the years.
Cosatu general secretary Sam Shilowa confirmed that the federation had had difficulty in replacing chief accountant Thomas Mannya after his departure last year. This has now been rectified and we have appointed a national accountant and an assistant.
On the loan issue, Shilowa said that in December last year, all staffers with outstanding debts had been been given a cut-off date by which loans had be cleared. Debtors who left the service of Cosatu were required to pay by stop-order. In some cases, pension payouts were withheld.
He rejected the sources suggestion that he was urging a soft line on defaulters, despite himself having a vehicle loan.