BL Premium reports that the Treasury’s bungled project to establish an integrated financial management system (IFMS) continues to sully its report card from the Auditor-General (AG) and was responsible for R207m in irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the 2019/2020 financial year.
The programme has been responsible for negative audit findings for a number of years and is likely to bedevil the department in the future. The project — which has cost more than R1bn since its inception in 2006 — is meant to incorporate human resources and financial management systems across national and provincial governments and replace outdated computer systems. In terms of the contract, the Treasury is paying about R67m a year for the technical support and maintenance of the software licence system — even though it is not in use. Since 2016/2017 the department has paid R267m in terms of the five-year contract, which comes to an end in 2021. Business executive in the office of the AG, Polani Sokombela, warned MPs about the danger of the Treasury failing to deliver the IFMS, noting that it had failed to meet its milestones. “A lack of a formal business case and programme charter and proper project management, insufficient resources and limited steering committee meetings relating to the IFMS programme may result in failure to deliver the overall quality solution on time and with the funds allocated,” Sokombela said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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