Taxpayers’ money wasted again

The South African Post Office (SAPO) is one of a number of state bodies that are under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit for maladministration and corruption – others include the national departments of labour, public works, and transport, and the State Information Technology Agency.

News emerged during the week that SAPO suffered a financial loss of some R2.1-billion in the past financial year, according to various media sources. This loss is attributed to the irregular awarding of tenders, and for this the SAPO is our zero of the week.

The information was revealed in the SAPO’s report for the 2013/2014 financial year, which ended on 31 May.

The same disclosure was made in the SAPO’s previous annual report, for 2012/2013. “During the current year management completed a full review of all procurement contracts which resulted in the identification of irregular expenditure amounting to R2.1 billion as disclosed in Note 51 in the Annual Financial Statements,” reads section 8.2.1 of the 2013 report, under the sub-heading Expenditure management.