‘PAP REFUNDS FOR TRAVELLING COSTS WERE UNLAWFUL’

MBABANE – The five-member team that attended Pan African Parliament (PAP) meetings was allegedly paid travelling claims amounting to E171 688 unlawfully.
This is contained in the audit report of the Auditor General Phestecia Themba Nxumalo.

This order report is yet to be debated and adopted by Parliament. The report also fingers Sanele Nxumalo, the erstwhile Clerk to Parliament, and some staff members as having also pocketed travelling claims wrongly. The claims, as alleged by the report, were paid as refunds for travelling costs for attending PAP meetings in Midrand, South Africa.

This was during the period between April 2008 and May 2012. “Procedurally, government directly pays the travel cost, that is, airfare to the agency,” the report reads in part.
“There was no basis for the refunds, that is, there were no supporting documents such as meeting invitations, approved external travel minutes, air-tickets, honour’s certificates and receipts/invoices to prove that, indeed the Parliamentarians and staff members had travelled and paid for their airfares to South Africa.”
The AG, in her audit report, noted that there was no authorisation and justification for the refunds.

Convincing

She observed that the response by the former Clerk to Parliament was not convincing and did not address the anomalies raised.
The auditor general alleges that, under normal circumstances, government officials (making reference to former clerk to Parliament and staff members) do not undertake external travel without prior approval of the trip and certification that funds were available.
“It is a procedural expenditure control to only commit available funds, otherwise commitment of unavailable funds may result in an overdrawn budget, eventually resulting in depleted reserves,” further reads the report.

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