A forensic investigation has implicated five members of the National Arts Council (NAC) in the mismanagement of the R300m presidential economic stimulus programme (PESP) funds.
The report, which was released by minister of sport, arts and culture Nathi Mthethwa in Pretoria on Monday, also found that there was a violation of the Public Finance Management Act, maladministration and over-committing of funds.The five council members were implicated because they were involved in the adjudication process and were also paid, breaking the NAC council rules.
“Council members' job is oversight over entities and these ones were involved in operational matters, including adjudication and were paid for that. They violated the NAC Act. Two of them are still around and three are no longer with the NAC. I have written to them to state their side of the story. I will take a decision based on what they would have said," Mthethwa said.
On governance, Dlamini said the investigation found that section 11 of the NAC Act was contravened and that there was failure to observe council resolutions. “It shows that there was no effective and appropriate steps to prevent irregularities in the adjudication process, including irregular spending. It discovered failure to provide financial oversight regarding the implementation of PESP which resulted in over committing of which double of the amount was budgeted for.”
Mthethwa said the investigation found nothing sinister about council members who applied for PESP funding.
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