The Western Cape auditor general undertook on Tuesday to investigate a R220 000 overpayment to premier Ebrahim Rasool, and the circumstances surrounding it.
The undertaking by auditor general Willie Brits was given at a provincial Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) meeting called by the Democratic Alliance to investigate the overpayment to Rasool while he was the finance MEC.
”[The investigation] does not turn on the bona fides of the premier,” said DA member Robin Carlisle at Tuesday’s meeting.
Carlisle said, however, there were ”substantial” differences in the payment to Rasool and other MECs.
Carlisle said Rasool had received R122 000 compared to the normal R102 000 car allowance.
Rasool’s total pay was R630 100 while other MECs received R510 750 during 2002/03.
Carlisle said the discrepancy in salaries was raised in the legislature in 2003, where Rasool took note of the overpayment and promised to look into it. It was a ”real concern” that one year and one month later nothing had happened to determine why and how the overpayment had occurred.
Echoing his concerns, the Independent Democrats’ Lennit Max, said it was strange that Rasool did not pick up the ”huge” differences in his salary.
The African National Congress’s Garth Strachan reminded those present that Scopa’s role was to ”deal with the process issues and not the political issues” of the overpayment.
Strachan said the committee should wait for the auditor general’s report and a response from the treasury department before discussing a matter where not all the facts were available.
According to Brits, the auditor general said it was important to note that his office only became aware of the overpayment in media reports about a week ago.
He said the provincial legislature’s audit, using sample testing, did not pick up the overpayment.
”Rasool’s salary was not subjected to a specific audit,” he said, saying only five of 11 MECs had their salaries audited.
Brits, who described Rasool’s overpayment as an ”exceptional case”, nonetheless said the provincial treasury, from whom his office had received no feedback to date, ought to suggest ways of preventing similar overpayments in future.
Brits said his office would present a report to Scopa in three weeks time. – Sapa