‘Culture of waste’ costs Mpumalanga R6.7bn in three years, report shows

Mpumalanga's expenditure has ballooned by R6.78 billion over three years, with experts attributing the surge to a lack of accountability, corruption, and flawed financial controls. The auditor-general's report highlights irregular expenditure amounts of R2.01 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year, followed by R1.51 billion in 2024-25, and R3.26 billion in the 2025-26 period.

The auditor-general raised concerns over R225 million spent on suspended officials, including R219.86 million in health department-related costs, R3 million for the suspension of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency's CEO, R460,000 for the head of Mpumalanga's Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation, and R490,000 for the suspension of multiple education department officials.

A key contributing factor to these expenditures is the provincial government's inability to enforce consequence management for departments and entities that repeatedly breach legislation. DA MPL Trudie Grové-Morgan welcomed the recommendation that political and administrative leaders institute controls and accountability measures. The party also called for automated procurement processes, which would improve compliance, curb corruption, and enhance transparency.

Political analyst Theo Neethling highlighted the contradiction between the province's clean audit score and the alarming scale of irregular, unauthorised, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. Neethling emphasized that the province's failure to address these issues stems from a deep-rooted problem concerning financial control and legislative compliance. He pointed to poor supply chain management, inadequate contract management, and flawed infrastructure project planning as exacerbating factors.

Neethling argued that the province must take swift action to investigate suspicious expenditure promptly and ensure that negligence and corruption, when proven, result in appropriate disciplinary or criminal consequences. Sandile Swana, another political analyst, noted that this problem has persisted for over 15 years, driven by corruption and the appointment of incompetent political representatives.

Ntsikelelo Breakfast echoed this sentiment, stating that those responsible for such expenditure are not facing consequences, as the same mistakes are repeated year after year.

Mpumalanga's government spokesperson, George Mthethwa, acknowledged that the province is implementing measures to combat these issues, including training supply chain management officials, monitoring spending, and automating procurement processes. The irregular expenditure increase in the 2025-26 financial year is partly attributed to a disclosed amount of R2.05 billion.

The government plans to introduce an electronic tender system by April 2028 and roll out electronic quotations by April 2028 to strengthen compliance and transparency.