Treasury won’t take responsibility for failure to access R1bn flood relief, says Godongwana
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has told MPs he cannot be blamed for the failure by government departments to access the R1 billion disaster relief fund.
He told Parliament’s Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Flood Disaster and Recovery on Wednesday that the delay is due to the various departments’ failure to submit relevant documents.
The money was made available to assist with relief efforts in flood-ravaged KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Godongwana said Treasury has done its part by ensuring the money is available.
It’s now up to government departments to follow the correct procedures to get the money.
“Treasury can only provide the technical advice on how to do things, which we have done,” Godongwana said.
“But Treasury can’t then provide assistance in filling the form. They have a responsibility to fill the forms, it cannot be the Treasury’s responsibility to do that. We will end up barking at the wrong tree.
“I have made a point that R1 billion was the initial funds, which we call immediate relief. The second phase will be recovery and relief. We haven’t even finished the first phase of the immediate relief, we can't even move to the second phase,” added Godongwana.
Godongwana warned Treasury won’t dish out money without the necessary supporting documents.
“From where we sit, we have done everything possible, the amount is there. The fact that people do not have the capacity to do the right things can’t be laid at the door of the National Treasury.
“Unfortunately, I refuse to take any responsibility. If people can’t submit anything, then we can’t take any responsibility. We don’t just dish out money without any documents.”
ALSO READ
