Cape Town - The standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) has rejected a request by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to treat as confidential the forensic report into the affairs of the National Skills Fund (NSF).
On Wednesday Scopa deliberated on the legal opinion that was sought from the parliamentary legal services after Nzimande on Tuesday asked that the report be treated confidentially, because implicated persons had not been engaged while the department was finalising its internal processes.
He had based his request on one of the parliamentary rules, which provides for documents not to be made public by a committee, but MPs had disagreed, saying the report related to public funds.
The forensic investigation was at the insistence of Scopa after it received a briefing on the annual performance plan and finances of NSF in May 2021.
The entity obtained a disclaimer of audit opinion in 2019-20 financial year because the Auditor General could not determine whether any adjustment was necessary to the R2.5 billion expenses in skills development funding, R1 billion TVET college infrastructure assets and R665.1 million incurred in accruals from non-exchange transactions, among other things.
At Wednesday’s meeting, MPs said the legal opinion confirmed their suspicions that there was no basis for the matter to be treated as confidential.
Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said when they received Nzimande’s request, they had to accord it the attention it deserved so that they were not found wanting.
“That view is confirmed by legal advice.
“We are in agreement that we will continue with the matters of the NSF and I will send a letter of communication to the minister that, as the committee, we are not acceding to his request to withhold the report confidentially,” Hlengwa said.
He also said the department would be given an opportunity to come and present to the committee its action plan on the implementation of the report.
Hlengwa reiterated that the forensic investigation was the committee’s initiative after poor audit results at the NSF.
“It was not something initiated and we just jumped on the bandwagon. We arrived at a determination that incessant disclaimers warranted an investigation,” he added.
ANC MP Nokuzola Tolashe said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) should be brought on board because the department had sat with the report for six to seven months.
“Little or nothing has been done,” Tolashe said.
EFF MP Ntombovuyo Mente agreed that the SIU should be brought on board as soon as possible.
“We do not have any other mechanism to investigate thoroughly unless, ourselves, we then can explore our alternative, which is to seek a parliamentary inquiry into NSF matters because if SIU can’t come on board, the inquiry will become an alternative,” Mente said.
Cape Times