Ramaphosa: Underspending budgets is 'treasonous'
President Cyril Ramaphosa has described underspending by some government departments as treasonous.
This follows underspending by different government spheres in the previous financial year, including the Gauteng government which returned R1.8 billion to treasury.
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Ramaphosa was answering questions in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.
"Where we do not spend money, which has been allocated, I have characterized that as treasonous against our people, because our people, expect us to do the work."
"We need to have that in mind, and it needs to be something that we fear to do, we fear to get involved in. So, consequence management, therefore, has to be upscaled," he added.
The President also said local government officials who steal public money, or are engaged in corrupt activities, must be punished to ensure cleaner governance.
This comes after the Auditor general report which painted a picture of the deteriorating state of local municipalities in the country.
"Those who are appointed to positions either of mayor or other key positions, that where they get involved in wrongdoing, that do not advance the interests of our people, such as either corrupt activities, stealing money, or even mismanagement. That in itself should constitute as an affront to our people." he told Members of Parliament.
The audit outcomes for local government for the 2023/24 financial year (please hyperlink to AG site with this report) indicates a total of 41 of the country’s 257 municipalities obtained clean audits.
