Wasteful government spending of R24.8b, could have been used for numerous projects to the benefit of South Africans.
The South African Institute of Race Relations says people have become so inured to seeing examples of corruption and wasteful expenditure, that it is easy to forget how much money this really is, and what could be done with it.
The SAIRR was responding to a recent Auditor Generals' report that found provincial departments and entities had incurred R24.8b in "unauthorised, irregular, wasteful, and fruitless expenditure".
Research manager Lucy Holborn says the SAIRR has calculated that this money could have built over 400 schools.
For the same amount it could have educated a fifth of the total public school pupil population -- 2.5 million pupils -- for one year.
