Outrage as consultants milk R17bn

The unilateral appointment of a firm of attorneys by former KwaZulu-Natal agriculture and environmental affairs MEC Mtholephi Mthimkhulu’s office cost the department more than R4.2 million. A report by outgoing Auditor-General Terence Nombembe on the use of consultants by the KZN government reveals that three departments – transport, health and agriculture, environmental affairs and rural development – were responsible for 84 percent of the R17.6 billion spent on consultants between April 2008 and March 2011. The transport department spent R9.7bn, while the health department spent R4.3bn. The agriculture, environmental affairs and rural development department spent R772m.

Nombembe found that Mthimkhulu’s office appointed Strauss Daly Attorneys without liaising with the department’s legal services directorate, which had advised that Mthimkhulu be represented by the state attorney in a case brought by four Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife directors – businessman Patrick Sokhela, Philani Shangase, Thulani Nkosi and Obed Shabangu. The directors were suspended in September 2008 by Mthimkhulu, now the deputy speaker of the KZN legislature. According to Nombembe, no contract was concluded with Strauss Daly and the R4.2m paid could not be evaluated against any documented terms of reference. Strauss Daly said the matter related to “dead files going as far back as 2008/09”. “It is not proper for any professional to engage in a manner that breaches confidentiality protocols which regulate their relationship with clients,” the law firm said. Strauss Daly Attorneys said they abided by professional integrity.

“The court papers on this matter, alone, being a readily available public document, will largely provide answers on whether or not the MEC had the requisite standing to litigate and testify such as he did,” the firm said in a statement. According to Nombembe, there was no strategy or policy on the use of consultants in the three departments, resulting in substantial expenditure. Some consultants worked without contracts. Two other reports by Nombembe paint a picture of over-reliance on consultants in Limpopo and North West. In Limpopo, between April 2008 and March 2011 the provincial government spent R4.23bn on consultants, with the health and social development department responsible for R1.73bn of the total. Health spent R1.59bn and social development R145m.

The health and social development departments did not monitor and evaluate contracts and payments, leading to objectives not being achieved. Nombembe blames lack of planning and monitoring for project targets that were only partly achieved. The Special Investigating Unit is probing the implementation of Limpopo’s health information system, which cost R467m, but is not yet fully implemented and operational, according to Nombembe. In its response to Nombembe’s findings, the department complained that it was losing staff, who could not be replaced due to lack funds, as a result of the provincial government being placed under administration in December 2011. The department said some of its units had vacancy rates above 50 percent. The North West government spent R2.8bn on consultants during the same period, with its public works, roads and transport department spending R759m.

A supply chain management procurement officer has been appointed in the department and compiled a policy on the appointment of consultants. Nombembe slammed the department for exhausting its budget to fund projects within the first three months of 2009/10 and appointing consultants who appointed other consultants on its behalf. The chairman of the KZN legislature’s standing committee on public accounts, Sipho Nkosi, said he agreed with Nombembe that there was an over-reliance on consultants in the public service. “We don’t see any transfer of skills where there are consultants,” Nkosi said. He described consultants as a waste of the government’s meagre resources. Nkosi said government departments should consider hiring qualified unemployed graduates instead of consultants.

“In 2011, we undertook to drastically reduce consultants, but we’re not succeeding,” he said. KZN legislature spokesman Wonder Hlongwa said he would be able to respond only on Tuesday.