Public Works misspent R35 bn in irregular expenditure

The public works department has lost almost R35-billion to wrongful and wasteful construction or leasing of state buildings in the past five years. The R34.98-billion losses were uncovered during the department’s review of around 1.3-million transactions of the Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE) dating back to 2009. It revealed however, that there was a steady decrease in the losses of public funds in the past five years. Around R22-billion was lost in the 2009/10 financial year, R4.9-billion was lost in 2010/11 while R3.8-billion was lost in the 2011/12 period. The figure was R3.1-billion in 2012/13 and R600-million in the last year. Around R1.1-billion was lost to fraudulent activities. Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi is shocked by this and said he would table his department’s annual report in Parliament. Online is his legal advisor.