The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga will write to MEC Community Safety, Security & Liaison, Jacky Macie, asking him to strengthen weak internal controls and consequence management within his department, and introduce a Revenue Management Improvement Programme, to add or improve skills of qualified revenue collectors.
This after the Auditor General (AG) lambasted his department for irregularly writing-off enforceable traffic fines and overstating their revenue collection which led to them receiving a Qualified Audit Opinion.
The recent 2023/2024 AG report revealed that the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security & Liaison, “wrote-off traffic fines that were still enforceable contrary to the department’s revenue management traffic fine policy”. The AG report goes on to say that “some of the traffic fines were written-off before expiry period, furthermore, some fines were not accurately written-off”.
The AG further said her office was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence for accrued department revenue written-off. Instead, the AG accused the department of overstating (exaggerating) traffic fines, penalties, and forfeits by R104 537 683 in the 2023/2024 financial year. The report also mentioned that in the 2022/2023 financial year, the department overstated (exaggerated) traffic fines by R117 449 462.
The AG also raised concerns that in Mpumalanga, “traffic fines were not charged according to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences charge book”. In addition, the AG said some traffic fines amounts disclosed in the financial statements of the department did not agree to the underlying accounting records.
In conclusion, the AG said she believes that “the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my qualified audit opinion” against the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security & Liaison.
The AG also accused the department of the following:
- Was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that bad debt was written-off in accordance with the department’s write-off policy, as required by treasury regulation 11.4.2.
- Was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that responsible steps were taken by the department to recover debts before writing them off, as required by treasury regulation 11.4.1.
- Effective and appropriate steps were not taken to collect all money due, as required by Section 38(1)(c)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
Failure to collect traffic fines revenue means that the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security & Liaison may be unable to meet its financial obligations.