Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa has called for an independent task team to investigate recurring audit findings, governance failures and accountability gaps within the Department of Defence dating back to 2006.
Image: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Bantu Holomisa has called for an independent task team to investigate longstanding governance failures, recurring adverse audit findings and accountability gaps within the Department of Defence and Military Veterans, some dating back to 2006.
Speaking in an interview on Newzroom Afrika, Holomisa said he had written to Defence Minister Angie Motshekga and the chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans proposing the formation of an independent body to probe longstanding issues repeatedly flagged by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).
“That’s precisely why we are asking, or rather I’m suggesting, that let us have a task team which will comprehensively investigate the recurring audit adverse findings, issues of governance, rather governance failures, institutional weaknesses and accountability gaps within the Department of Defence and Military Veterans,” Holomisa said.
He said the Auditor-General had, for the past four to five years, continued to issue adverse findings against the department while concerns raised by oversight structures remained unresolved.
“The Auditor-General has been for the last four or five years issuing statements which are adversely negative and affecting, or rather adverse findings against the Department of Defence,” he said.
Holomisa said the department’s internal Audit Committee had also expressed frustration over a lack of responses from officials responsible for addressing audit concerns.
“We have tried, and the Audit Committee, which is an internal one, has also cited or informed us that they are frustrated because when they want answers they are not getting responses from those who are responsible for this,” he said.
He added that the Auditor-General had encountered similar challenges.
“The Auditor-General has said that the frustration they have is that whenever they have queried something they don’t get responses.”
According to Holomisa, many of the unresolved audit issues date back nearly two decades.
“So we don’t want to be penalised for things which we don’t know because most of these audit queries dates back from 2006 and therefore we think that the best way is to establish a task team, an independent task team,” he said.
Holomisa stressed that the proposed body must operate independently of both current and former members of the defence establishment.
“That means nobody who is in the Defence today and those who served in the Defence in the past must serve in that task team.”
He said the purpose of the task team would be to establish why recurring audit concerns continued to surface and why satisfactory responses had not been provided despite years of scrutiny.
Holomisa also expressed frustration over the slow pace of investigations and prosecutions linked to allegations of wrongdoing within the department, including cases involving individuals who had been implicated by investigative authorities.
“There’s a lot of them and even President Ramaphosa had to sign a proclamation to authorise the SIU to investigate some of these cases. But the frustrating part is that the Hawks, the SIU, people who have been implicated by the military police, the NPA is dragging its feet,” he said.
The deputy minister also pointed to procurement and project management challenges within the department.
“But there are certain transactions where the Department of Defence has asked Armscor or Denel to purchase certain equipment for them. But the projects would be started, but they are never finished on time,” he said.
Holomisa further raised concerns about the relationship between civilian oversight structures and military leadership, saying the secretary for defence, who serves as the department’s accounting officer, was at times undermined by those in uniform.
“And yet, he or she is the accounting officer of the department,” he said.
Holomisa said Parliament needed to intervene to address the governance challenges.
“So the Parliament must sort out that mess. We cannot continue like this. I’m not here to play.”
The deputy minister said there appeared to be growing support within Parliament’s defence oversight structures for the establishment of the task team.
“The Portfolio Committee, there seems to be an emerging sufficient consensus that this task team is needed as of yesterday,” he said.
“I don’t think there will be anyone from the department who would be opposed to this, because all of us, we want to make sure that finally we get away from, or rather that we are relieved from being accused of being in the wrong direction or in the wrong books of the Auditor-General.”
Holomisa said the proposed task team would help Parliament and the department better understand why recurring audit findings, governance failures and accountability concerns within the defence sector have remained unresolved for years.
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