ATC170816: First report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the unauthorised expenditure of the Department of Sport and Recreation, dated 16 August 2017

Public Accounts (SCOPA)

First report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the unauthorised expenditure of the Department of Sport and Recreation, dated 16 August 2017.
           

1. Introduction
    

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (the Committee) considered and heard evidence on the unauthorised expenditure of the Department of Sport and Recreation (the Department) in relation to the previous years, and reports as follows:

 

1. Background
    

In the 2007/08 financial year an amount of R674 640.00 was classified as unauthorised expenditure. Subsequently, in the Committee’s engagements with the Department, National Treasury, the Auditor-General SA, and the Committee’s own evaluation of the Department’s finances for that year, it was clear that the “unauthorised” expenditure was a misclassification.

 

The money had been used in line with legal and budgetary prescripts. The over-expenditure was for a particular programme, but the Department had enough money to cover it at the end of the financial year. Therefore there was no over-expenditure of the Vote.

 

1. Recommendations

 

The Committee recommends that:

 

1. The finding of “unauthorized” expenditure to the amount of R674 640.00 be expunged from the financial records of the Department since it was a misclassification;
2. Care is taken to avoid these kinds of mistakes in future as it becomes a blot in the financial statements of the Department.

 

Report to be considered.