‘Culture of waste’ costs Mpumalanga R6.7bn in three years, report shows
· Citizen
Mpumalanga has recorded R6.78 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure over three financial years, with experts blaming a lack of consequence management, corruption and poor financial controls.
The auditor-general (AG) has raised concerns about the provincial government’s failure to hold departments and entities accountable for repeatedly failing to comply with key legislation.
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AG raised concerns about Mpumalanga’s failure to hold departments accountable
According to the audit report, the province recorded R2.01 billion in irregular expenditure in the 2023-24 financial year, followed by R1.51 billion in 2024-25 and R3.26 billion in 2025-26.
The AG also raised concerns about the R225 million spent on officials who had been suspended for extended periods, including:
- The department of health accounted for R219.86 million in suspension-related costs involving multiple officials;
- The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency spent R3 million on the suspension of its chief executive officer;
- The department of culture, sport and recreation incurred R460 000 on the suspension of its head of department; and
- The department of education spent R490 000 on the suspension of multiple officials.
The report identified the provincial government’s failure to implement consequence management for departments and entities that repeatedly breached key legislation as a contributing factor to the expenditure.
DA MPL Trudie Grové-Morgan welcomed the AG’s recommendation that political and administrative leaders institutionalise controls and accountability measures.
The recommendation also calls for departments and entities to work together to address persistent weaknesses by strengthening accountability and monitoring the implementation of corrective action.
DA call for automated procurement processes
“We are calling on the provincial government to introduce automated procurement processes, which will help strengthen compliance, prevent corruption and ensure greater transparency,” Grové-Morgan said.
Political analyst Theo Neethling said the latest audit outcomes presented a contradictory picture of provincial governance.
“Although eight provincial institutions achieved clean audits, the scale of irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure raises serious concerns,” Neethling said.
“The fact that this expenditure has accumulated to R6.78 billion over three financial years, with R3.26 billion in irregular expenditure recorded in 2025-26 alone, points to deep-seated problems regarding financial control and legislative compliance.”
He said the central question was whether the province had the political and administrative will to address the root causes of the problems.
Lack of effective consequence management
“The primary problem appears to be a lack of effective consequence management,” he said.
“When irregular spending occurs repeatedly without investigations being concluded or responsible officials being held accountable, a management culture emerges in which violating financial regulations carries few visible consequences.”
Neethling said poor supply chain management, inadequate contract management and flawed infrastructure project planning exacerbated the problem.
“Consequently, carrying over billions of rands in outstanding expenditure from one financial year to the next is not simply an accounting matter, it signals a lack of timely action and sufficient institutional accountability,” he said.
He said the provincial government needed to ensure that suspicious expenditure was investigated promptly and that negligence and corruption, where proven, resulted in appropriate disciplinary or criminal consequences.
Long-standing problem over past 15 years
Political analyst Sandile Swana said unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure had been a long-standing problem in Mpumalanga over the past 15 years.
“The key drivers of this are the long-running culture of corruption, as well as the consistent appointment of corrupt and generally incompetent political representatives,” Swana said.
He alleged that people fighting corruption in the province faced reprisals, while those supporting it were regarded as trusted soldiers of “corrupt ANC leaders”.
Another political analyst, Ntsikelelo Breakfast said the recurring nature of the expenditure indicated that those responsible were not facing consequences.
“The fact that people keep on doing the same thing year in and year out means there are no consequences,” Breakfast said.
Measures to curb irregular expenditure
Mpumalanga government spokesperson George Mthethwa said they were implementing measures to curb unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
These include training supply chain management officials, monitoring spending and automating procurement processes.
Mthethwa said the irregular expenditure increase in the 2025-26 financial year was partly due to a disclosed amount of R2.05 billion.
Government planned to introduce an electronic tender system by next April and roll out electronic quotations by April 2028.