This is more than R20 million per month for the procurement of Covid-19 material which includes Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The release of the spending of departments comes amidst a public outcry of massive alleged fraud and corruption with Covid-19 procurement across the country, including in North West. Mokgoro adds as part of the audit and compliance there is currently an internal audit on all Covid-19 related procurement by various departments.

“While some of the departments, such as Health, Education, and Social Development, incur Covid-19 spending on social responsibility, the majority of the departments are mainly spending for internal intervention to curb the spread of the disease.” The expenditure excludes the Provincial Legislature,” Mokgoro adds.

Meanwhile, Mokgoro further says that over a week ago, he issued a directive to all Provincial Government Departments to submit reports relating to all procurement spending related to Covid-19 to his office and the Provincial Treasury.

“This was in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on government’s efforts to root out and deal with alleged corruption in all COVID-19 procurements in all state institutions – from government departments to municipalities as well as state-owned entities,” Mokgoro further adds.

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