What is wasteful and fruitless expenditure?
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure is defined as “expenditure" in terms of Section 1 of the PFMA defines fruitless and wasteful expenditure as “expenditure which was made in vain and would have been avoided had reasonable care been exercised”. The words in vain as contained in the definition of fruitless and wasteful refers to a transaction, event or condition which was undertaken without value or substance and which did not yield any desired results or outcome. Reasonable care means applying due diligence (careful application, attentiveness, caution) to ensure that the probability of a transaction, event or condition not being achieved as planned is being managed to an acceptable level. Section 38 of the PFMA spells out the general responsibilities of accounting officers related to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Irregular expenditure incurred by the municipality of the City of Joburg was not probed to determine if any officials were liable for it. The irregular expenditure stood at R3.4bn in the 2015/16 financial year. Squandering R3bn can not be condoned.
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure is defined as “expenditure" in terms of Section 1 of the PFMA defines fruitless and wasteful expenditure as “expenditure which was made in vain and would have been avoided had reasonable care been exercised”. The words in vain as contained in the definition of fruitless and wasteful refers to a transaction, event or condition which was undertaken without value or substance and which did not yield any desired results or outcome. Reasonable care means applying due diligence (careful application, attentiveness, caution) to ensure that the probability of a transaction, event or condition not being achieved as planned is being managed to an acceptable level. Section 38 of the PFMA spells out the general responsibilities of accounting officers related to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Irregular expenditure incurred by the municipality of the City of Joburg was not probed to determine if any officials were liable for it. The irregular expenditure stood at R3.4bn in the 2015/16 financial year. Squandering R3bn can not be condoned.