Cape Town – Several parliamentary committees are out on oversight visits throughout the country this week as part of their constitutional mandate to hold organs of state accountable.
Topping the agenda are issues of service delivery, quality of low-cost houses, military bases, audit opinions and repairs to infrastructure in some parts affected by the floods.
The standing committee on Finance started its two-day oversight visit to the National Treasury and its entities in Pretoria.
Committee chairperson Joe Maswanganyi said the visit would deal with matters arising from the audit findings for the 2021-22 financial year after the committee was briefed by the Auditor-General on the audit outcomes.
The committee will also conduct an inspection in loco on the National Treasury’s Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) at the State Information Technology Agency in Centurion.
“The inspection in loco on IFMS is important because the National Treasury received a qualified audit opinion with findings resulting from incomplete disclosure of fruitless and wasteful expenditure relating to this system’s technical support and maintenance of licences expenditure,” Maswanganyi said.
The police portfolio committee said it would undertake oversight visits to forensic science laboratories in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson said as the country intensified the fight against gender-based violence and other crimes, fully efficient forensic science laboratories were critical in driving the science-led conviction of perpetrators.
She said the committee had in the previous three financial years held various interactions with the SAPS senior management team to deal directly with the backlog of over 240 000 DNA analyses.
“The committee welcomed the minister’s recent announcement that following substantial investment in resources and procurement of necessary consumables, the backlog has been reduced substantially.
“The visit will on a broader level serve as a platform to assess the impact of the investments and lessons learned to ensure that the same problem does not recur,” she said.
During the visit to a laboratory in Amanzimtoti, which was damaged during the 2022 floods, the MPs will assess the damage and progress with repairs.
In the Eastern Cape, the committee will assess the readiness of the Gqeberha laboratory to function at the start of April.
The committee will also visit the New Brighton Police Station, which is number six on the top 30 police stations for murder.
The standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) will visit various water projects in the Limpopo and hold several engagements with the Department of Water and Sanitation due to the regression reported in the audit opinion.
The department incurred unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure with most of the irregular expenditure of R9 billion linked to implementing agencies.
“Scopa is of the view that a site visit will give more insight into why the problems persist, thereby placing the committee in a better position to make appropriate recommendations on how these problems can be addressed.
“The committee further believes that interaction with the department’s management is crucial if any improvement is to be seen in those areas of concern raised by the Auditor-General,” committee chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said.
The eradication of bucket toilets will come under scrutiny when the water and sanitation portfolio committee visits Free State, which has 12 202 bucket toilets.
Committee chairperson Robert Mashego said they would use the visit to assess progress on the bucket eradication programme, solutions to connecting the toilets to bulk infrastructure and interventions to provide quality sanitation services in the province.
Some of the committees conducting oversight visits include the public service and administration, the defence and military veterans, as well as the agriculture, land reform and rural development.
Others are standing committee on appropriations, small business development, human settlements and Cogta.
Cape Times