Staff Reporter
The crisis at the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (PACOFS) which has culminated in the ongoing sit-in by disgruntled artists from across the province has been a long time coming as the Auditor General (AG) pointed to a host of issues that were not in order at the institution about three years ago.
The AG, in a report dated August 2, 2019, gave PACOFS a disclaimer audit opinion for the 2018/2019 financial year citing insufficient information as the arts centre could not provide reliable invoices and other supporting documents on its operations to allow for an informed audit decision.
According to the AG, some assets belonging to PACOFS could not be physically verified, thereby making it difficult to confirm if they actually existed.
There was an irregular expenditure of R2 917 000 and in 2018 it stood as R9 592 000.
This, said the AG, was incurred due to non-compliance with supply chain management (SCM) requirements.
The full extent of irregular expenditure was still being worked out when the report was released.
PACOFS also failed to submit its financial statements for auditing within two months after the end of the financial year, as required by section 55(1)(c)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The financial statements submitted for auditing were not prepared in accordance with the prescribed financial reporting framework and neither were they supported by full and proper records.
The AG also found that effective and appropriate steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure, as required by the PFMA.
There were also no effective steps taken to prevent fruitless and wasteful expenditure which amounted to R192 000 at that time.
PACOFS, the AG found, did not have a properly constituted consequence management system.
“I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that disciplinary steps were taken against officials who had incurred irregular expenditure as required by . . . the PFMA,” read part of the AG’s report.
“This was due to proper and complete records that were not maintained as evidence to support the investigations into irregular expenditure,” added the report.
Procurement and contract management was also found in disarray as some goods and services with a transaction value below R500 000 were procured without obtaining the required price quotations, as required by treasury.
Some of the quotations were awarded to suppliers whose tax matters had not been cleared by the South African Revenue Service.
Further, some of the goods and services of a transaction value above R500 000 were procured without inviting competitive bids as required by treasury.
The AG also said some contracts were extended or modified without the approval of a properly delegated official as required by the PFMA and treasury.
Members of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) in the Free State have been staging a sit-in at PACOFS since March 10 after failing to make headway when they met with PACOFS acting chief executive officer and artistic director Meshack Xaba.
The artists had called the meeting to impress on PACOFS to act on long-standing issues of corruption and maladministration.
Chief among the issues they have raised is the implementation of recommendations by Morar Incorporated Accounting Firm which investigated matters at PACOFS and produced a report in 2018.
The artists, who have vowed not leave PACOFS until their issues have been resolved, have occupied some of the offices where they are also sleeping at night.
CCIFSA Free State provincial coordinator Mbuyiselo Nqodi has told journalists that they want PACOFS to urgently implement the Morar report which implicates some senior staff members and a board member.
“Free State artists are resolute that they will sleep at PACOFS until those implicated are shown the door,” Nqodi has been quoted as saying.
The Morar report, among other things, recommended that PACOFS takes disciplinary action against Xaba for alleged unethical conduct.
He is being accused of a host of issues in the report, including fabricating minutes of meetings.
CCIFSA wants Xaba to leave because of the seriousness of the allegations against him.
On Tuesday, Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela and the MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Limakatso Mahasa, met with the artists.
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa is now expected to meet with the artists in the coming days.