Government
Besides red flags such as payments to deceased people, duplicate payments and overpayments in the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Covid-19 Ters benefit scheme, Auditor General (AG) Kimi Makwetu also flagged government officials applying and benefitting from the scheme, in the agency’s Covid-19 Relief Funds Audit.
On Wednesday, Makwetu noted that government officials were also tapping into the South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) special R350 Covid-19 social relief grant, which is aimed at the poorest people in distress.
The AG, however, did not reveal actual numbers of such cases in the UIF and Sassa schemes, nor the values linked to this.
On the request of President Cyril Ramaphosa, Makwetu’s office said that it has undertaken “a real-time audit of 16 of the key Covid-19 initiatives introduced by the government, which involved the management of R147.4 billion of funds made available for these initiatives.”
This is part of the government’s broader R500 billion relief and economic stimulus package.
Makwetu said the Covid-19 Relief Funds Audit represents the first in a series of reports that will deal with the financial management of the government’s Covid-19 initiatives, covering R68.9 billion (47%) of the R147.4 billion spending.
The report covers the period until July 31, 2020.
For a detailed report visit Moneyweb
UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping has since been placed on precautionary suspension.
