Huge sums lost to irregular housing subsidy payments are being verified by Western Cape officials in preparation for a forensic audit and legal action against those suspected of committing fraud.
And new measures are to be put in place by December to prevent a recurrence of irregular practices.
The irregularities, disclosed recently by the Auditor-General, are being assessed by the provincial housing department and are expected to be handed over to forensic auditors by the end of September, according to Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi.
Earlier this year at a meeting of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), it emerged that Auditor General (AG) Shauket Fakie had found that of the R2,5-billion paid out in government housing subsidies since 1994, R323-million had been paid out for irregular applications.
Money had, among other things, been granted improperly to government employees earning salaries higher than the threshold for eligibility for subsidies.
Money had also been granted to people who had died and to people with invalid identity numbers.
Fakie also found that some people had received duplicate subsidies.
In the Western Cape, a number of cases identified by Fakie were being verified prior to being handed over to forensic auditors for further investigation, Dyantyi said.
“After investigation, the applicants’ details will be sent to the forensic auditors for further investigation and legal action.
“The department will finalise the verification of the AG’s findings by the end of September.
“All verified findings will be handed over to forensic auditors for further investigation and legal action where alleged fraud has been identified.
“The provincial departments are to establish corrective measures to be implemented for proper management and elimination of any identified risks and control weaknesses.
“The deadline for this is December this year.” - Cape Argus
And new measures are to be put in place by December to prevent a recurrence of irregular practices.
The irregularities, disclosed recently by the Auditor-General, are being assessed by the provincial housing department and are expected to be handed over to forensic auditors by the end of September, according to Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi.
Earlier this year at a meeting of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), it emerged that Auditor General (AG) Shauket Fakie had found that of the R2,5-billion paid out in government housing subsidies since 1994, R323-million had been paid out for irregular applications.
Money had, among other things, been granted improperly to government employees earning salaries higher than the threshold for eligibility for subsidies.
Money had also been granted to people who had died and to people with invalid identity numbers.
Fakie also found that some people had received duplicate subsidies.
In the Western Cape, a number of cases identified by Fakie were being verified prior to being handed over to forensic auditors for further investigation, Dyantyi said.
- A total of 376 subsidies in the Western Cape were approved after the applicant’s death, according to Fakie.The department is investigating 105 of these cases after finding that 271 did, in fact, comply with the requirements.
- The AG found 256 cases of applicants receiving more than one subsidy in the province.All of these irregularities are being investigated by the department.
- The AG identified 245 instances where subsidies had been paid to applicants under the age of 21. Of these, the province is investigating 55. It was found that 164 of these applicants turned 21 in the year in which they applied for the subsidy and 26 of them were married.
- Altogether 255 applications for housing subsidies received from people with invalid identity numbers are being investigated by the province. Irregularities have been found in 94 cases. A further 161 are being investigated by the province.
Dyantyi said that all identity numbers had been sent for checks against the population database. - The AG found that in 2,047 cases, duplicate subsidies were approved for a specific property. After a deeds check, the province found that only one site was registered for each applicant. Three cases are being investigated in which subsidies were awarded to people who received a monthly payment from the Government Employee Pension Fund.
“After investigation, the applicants’ details will be sent to the forensic auditors for further investigation and legal action.
“The department will finalise the verification of the AG’s findings by the end of September.
“All verified findings will be handed over to forensic auditors for further investigation and legal action where alleged fraud has been identified.
“The provincial departments are to establish corrective measures to be implemented for proper management and elimination of any identified risks and control weaknesses.
“The deadline for this is December this year.” - Cape Argus
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