KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Pietermaritzburg:  15th October 2009

Madam Speaker

The highlights of the finance committee resolutions under discussion are those that deal with the Department of the Royal Household. This time the finance committee actually got to see - and interrogate - the department’s officials, which, in itself, is a rare accomplishment.

Even more importantly, this Legislature has finally found the political will to charge a significant portion of this department’s past unauthorised expenditure against its future budgets. Unauthorised expenditure - including payments for lobola, clothing, research and endless car repairs - will therefore see this department starting the next financial year with a significant shortfall. In total, R3.5-million is to be charged against its budgets over the next three years. However, this figure could as much as treble once SCOPA has completed its investigation of unauthorised expenditure in the 2008/2009 financial year.

Madam Speaker, the Royal Household is forever in the red for its runaway expenditure. There is hardly a member of the finance portfolio committee or SCOPA who has not in the past expressed dismay at the department’s extravagance, its lack of financial controls, its lack of accountability or its contempt of Parliament. The chairperson of the finance committee has even compiled an elaborate essay on the history of overspending in the Department of the Royal Household.

A document prepared by the provincial treasury detailing the expenditure patterns of the Royal Household between April and September 2007 shows that R335 490 had been paid to His Majesty’s speech writer. It would be interesting to interrogate how many speeches had been drafted during this time and to work out the cost per speech.

According to the same source, a company registered as Development Interface CC received R36 309 in May 2007 from the royal household for preparing responses to queries and budget inputs. In July 2007, it received an identical amount for responding to portfolio committee queries and budget input and R59 280 for strategic support services. This is most peculiar since the Department of the Royal Household is notorious for failing to respond to this Legislature’s resolutions and for blatantly ignoring its recommendations.

The provincial treasury document also expressed concern about the expenditure on clothing for the queens. In total, the royal household spent R533 000 on clothing from June to October 2007. According to the provincial treasury, it is not clear whether the department should be responsible for these expenses.

At least R1.1-million was spent on entertainment for the royal household between April and September 2007 with the bulk of the money going towards catering services, the hiring of marquees, toilets, stages and sound systems. Yet only R803 000 could be accounted for. The treasury report said there had been four occasions when hotel accommodation had cost in excess of R5 000 per person per night.

The treasury report adds that the maintenance of the department’s fleet of 32 cars cost R1.6m between April and September 2007. However, only R816 000 of the money spent on the fleet could be accounted for.

Between April and September 2007, the Department of the Royal Household spent R2.5-million on subsistence and travel, but only R1.1-million of this amount was accounted for. These items, Madam Speaker, are only matched by the travel and subsistence claims filed between May and August this year by the Hon. MEC for Economic Development and Tourism.

In its report on the royal household’s extravagance, the provincial treasury noted that its analysis was constrained by the lack of detailed information. The finance portfolio committee and SCOPA have expressed similar sentiments about the willingness – or lack thereof – on the part of the department’s officials to account to the Legislature and, by proxy, to the taxpayer.

Both must take the credit for the action they have now taken against the Department of the Royal Household. Much less praise must be reserved for the mere redeployment of the former Head of Department of the Royal Household within the Office of the Premier. Generally speaking, transfers rather than dismissals of incompetent staff are an established practice within this provincial government.

Such redeployment of non-performing officials has overshadowed the otherwise laudable Treasury reinforcements recently seconded to the Department of Health as part of the joint turnaround strategy.

Madam Speaker, it is important to clarify that unauthorised expenditure in the Department of the Royal Household largely covers expenditure which has not been budgeted for, rather than illegally incurred expenditure as has been the case in the Department of Agriculture.

Similarly, unauthorised expenditure in the Department of Royal Household generally relates to minor sums compared to the massive overspending in other departments, namely in the Department of Health.

This, however, does not remove the responsibility on the part of the Department of the Royal Household to account for such unauthorised expenditure or suffer the penalties that result from its violation of the PFMA.  

In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I wish to say that my party is a proud custodian of the traditional institutions and particularly of the Zulu Royal Household. But we also believe that the public perception of the Department of the Royal Household as a haven of extravagance and mismanagement has done the institution it serves tremendous harm.

We in the IFP believe that sound financial management would greatly enhance the prestige of the Zulu Royal Household beyond its traditional support base. The resolutions that penalise the Department of the Royal Household for its unauthorised expenditure are a step in the right direction.

I thank you.

Contact: Roman Liptak, 078 302 0929