Every time the Accountant General releases a financial audit on a public entity, one can bet their bottom Rand that it is going to raise some eyebrows. And news that government paid R12 bn for the services of “consultants” should not come as a surprise at all.
However, the rationality of the decision has to be questioned considering that, after such an astronomical expenditure has been made, the tax payer is still not getting quality services delivery from the entities that the so-called consultants were engaged to help fix.
Inevitably, a number of mindboggling questions arise:
- What kind of expertise justified paying for such staggering figure? Isn’t it possible that the cost of the services were inflated?
- Why has there been not difference in service delivery?
- If this is meant to fix the incompetence of government departments, why not fix the departments in the first place, instead of throwing money at the problem?
Considering that the money could have been directed at some pressing transformation priorities, for instance, providing basic services like education, health and transport facilities in underprivileged parts of the country, a convincing response is due.