Once again, the very people who need help the most are not at the receiving end because of fraud and corruption! Perhaps someone should be answerable as to why there were insufficinent internal procedures and controls in place. Who is accountable for that? Surely prevention is better than cure? This is absolutely disgusting!
Regards
Nikki
Sheena Adams
October 17 2006 at 11:12AM
The uncovering of yet more stolen funds is a real possibility, according to senior management at the National Development Agency, already battling misappropriation to the tune of R8,7-million. And NDA chief executive, Godfrey Mokate, has questioned the "lapse on the side of bank" that allowed a former clerk to set up accounts with fictitious details.
The NDA was set up in 1998 to distribute money to organisations serving poor communities, but since its inception it has been plagued by financial scandals. At a press conference in Johannesburg on Monday, where the latest annual report was released, board chairperson Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana said a comprehensive review of the agency, which initially uncovered the fraud in June, would start investigating financial accounts from 2004 and before in order to get "a total picture".
So far there is no evidence of other people being involved in misappropriation," he said. Former NDA clerk Sheila O'Reilly stands accused of depositing R8,7-million over a two-year period into the account of an acquaintance, Kafihlwa Morris Dube, who is currently on the run, as well as into business accounts with fictitious addresses. O'Reilly's accounts have been frozen and the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the police have already seized nearly R2,5-million in cash, a double cab bakkie and a Land Rover. O'Reilly last appeared in court on October 5 when her bail hearing was postponed. The Auditor-General gave the NDA a qualified audit for the past financial year, citing insufficient internal controls over the disbursement of nearly R18-million intended for the poor
Another embarrassing blot on the agency's track record was that of a R7,5-million donation it was forced to return to the European Union in recent weeks. Mokate said on Monday the EU demanded the return of the funds after finding that the organisations which benefited from the donation were "very poor institutions with very weak controls" that could not account for the money.
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on October 17, 2006
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