The department of communications has received a qualified audit report from the auditor-general for the first time in five years, prompting one opposition party MP to suggest that the department had “imploded”.

Acting communications department director-general Harold Wesso revealed the news of the qualified audit to the parliamentary portfolio committee on communications on Wednesday.

The auditor-general was particularly concerned with R24m in irregular expenditure by the department, up from R4m in the 2009 financial year.

Wesso explained that almost all of the disputed money was spent by employees of the department on contracts and tenders while not following proper procedures.

The revelation was greeted with outrage from committee members, with ANC MP Eric Kholwane asking for a 10-minute break to digest the news.

In spite of the concerns expressed by the auditor, the department was adamant that only R8m of the irregular expenditure could be attributed to the 2010 financial year. However, the department’s presentation did not provide details of which contracts and tenders were linked to the irregular spending.

According to the department’s presentation, the auditor-general did not pick up the rest of the irregular expenditure in earlier annual reports and at least one of the contracts was signed as far back as 2006.

“The current administration has to suffer for what happened in previous administrations,” Wesso said. “But we are not running away from the responsibility.”

Congress of the People MP Julie Killian said she was concerned that the department was facing serious leadership challenges. “The department has imploded,” Killian said.

Wesso admitted that the department’s leadership was faced not only with financial issues but also an internal crisis. “But we have been working through those and I feel we are settling into a better working situation now,” he added.

Without naming her specifically, Wesso implied that former director-general Mamodupi Mohlala was to blame for low morale in the department. “It was a fearful environment to work in,” he told the committee.

Since the beginning of the financial year, the department has battled to filled several key roles and Wesso told the committee that the suspension of key senior employees and the ad hoc instalment of people in positions not suited to them had severely affected the department’s ability to deliver on its mandate.

“The tensions created different factions within the department and we have dealt with that in a coherent way and resolved many issues,” Wesso said.

Disciplinary hearings were now underway against people who were linked to irregular spending, he said.

The department has decided to train senior staff about how to work in the confines on the Public Finance Management Act. — Candice Jones, TechCentral