Mixed Eastern Cape audit results show a government still failing the people
Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Provincial Secretary of the UDM in the Eastern Cape
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the Eastern Cape notes the latest audit outcomes for the Eastern Cape government presented by the Auditor-General’s Office with serious concern. While the province has shown some progress in financial reporting, the core issues of poor planning, weak governance and lack of service delivery remain deeply troubling.
According to the Auditor-General’s update to the National Council of Province's Select Committee on Finance, the number of clean audits in the Eastern Cape improved from five in 2019/20 to twelve in 2022/23. However, this has now dropped to nine clean audits in 2023/24, a clear sign of regression.
It is unacceptable that key departments like Health and Education continue to receive qualified audits year after year. These departments are meant to deliver the most basic and important services to our people.
The Education Department still battles to account for school assets, while the Health Department cannot properly report on money it may owe. How can we trust such departments to serve our communities? Even the Office of the Premier and the Eastern Cape Legislature have backslid in their audit outcomes. This shows poor leadership and weak accountability at the highest levels of provincial government. Many departments submitted performance reports full of errors and could not back up their so-called achievements with proper data.
The UDM is also alarmed by the shocking levels of wasteful and irregular spending. In the 2023/24 financial year alone, the province recorded:
• R467 million in unauthorised expenditure
• R2.7 billion in irregular expenditure
• R148 million in fruitless and wasteful spending.
These figures represent a total disregard for public funds at a time when our people are suffering without proper healthcare, education, roads and jobs.
The Transport Department’s scholar transport system which could help so many rural learners, remains under-utilised. Projects are delayed, money is paid for work not done and finished projects are often left unused.
These are not just audit problems; they are service delivery failures. Our children can’t read because early childhood development targets are not met. Rural development remains just a slogan because departments fail to measure progress or complete evaluations.
The UDM demands:
• Full accountability for departments and individuals responsible for poor performance and misuse of funds
• A clear plan to fix the failures in the Health and Education Departments.
• Immediate action from the Premier to strengthen governance and service delivery across all departments.
• Transparency in dealing with the R197 million in financial losses due to material irregularities.
The Eastern Cape people deserve better than empty reports and broken promises. The UDM in the Eastern Cape will continue to be a strong voice for the communities being failed by this government.
