Manuel roasts cosy colleagues

Close relationships between some ministers and MPs are preventing Parliament holding the executive to account, says Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. He is also said to believe that these associations are boosting chronic underspending by government departments.

Manuel blasted ANC MPs at a caucus meeting last week for not asking ministers tough questions when they come to Parliament to explain the financial management of their departments.

Manuel is said to be ‘gatvol” of underspending by departments. A source close the minister says perennial returns to the state purse have become a major concern because they should be used to improve service delivery.

Manuel blames MPs for not being critical enough when assessing the work of the ministers and letting ministers get away with chronic underspending.

‘There is great unhappiness on the expenditure side of the budget,” says the source. ‘Departments are not spending the money they’re given; especially the social cluster [that includes the departments of social development, housing and health] is guilty of that. Questions must be asked about how these people spend the money. Trevor is gatvol of ministers returning the money they are supposed to be spending on government programmes.”

The finance minister says MPs are falling prey to ministers who use their influence to ensure that Parliament treats them with kid gloves when they appear before the portfolio committees.

‘The proximity of ministers to MPs is a problem. The closeness means they can’t execute their duties properly. It was more an attack on the MPs, not the ministers. The parliamentarians should take their jobs more seriously,” says MP Khotso Khumalo.

Another portfolio committee chairperson says Manuel raises these issues every year when he addresses the caucus.

Ministers use various ways to ‘soften up” MPs. For instance, they might invite them to functions hosted by their departments and take them along on overseas trips paid for by the department. It is also suggested that some MPs will not come down hard on ministers because their family members or friends will be involved in employment or contracts with the relevant departments.

Khumalo suggests that historical links between MPs and ministers make critical assessment of their work difficult.

‘Some people share friendships from a long time ago. They would have been together in the trade unions or in exile or in camps. Now they have to see whether those relationships are too close for comfort.”