SA Auditor General Shauket Fakie has reported to parliament’s public accounts committee that Parliament itself exceeded its voted funds by R17,4-million rand in the 2001/02 financial year.
One key issue which the AG drew MPs’ attention to was the loss by the catering services department of parliament. “Catering services were not self-supporting and were substantially subsidised by Parliament. Only 25% of the expenditure was ecovered which resulted in a loss of R12,8m for the year under review.”
In his Audit Outcomes for the Year ended March 31, 2002, the AG reported that he was giving an unqualified audit opinion “with emphasis of matter”. This is defined as “not significant enough for the audit opinion to be qualified”.
Among the matters emphasized were late submission of financial statements. First unsigned financial statements were submitted on May 31 2002 however, signed statements were submitted by June 5.
In addition the AG said the parliamentary millennium project — which includes an exhibition of ancient maps — had not provided statements for the foreign donations received.
Total parliamentary expenditure for the year under review was nearly R450-million. – I-Net Bridge