The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has outlined steps that include non-payment of bonuses to staff following a presentation by South Africa's audit institution, the Auditor General (AG). The AG revealed irregular expenditure at ICASA amounting to R30.2 million rands and "fruitless and wasteful expenditure" totalling R2.3 million rands.

In a response to ITWeb Africa, Willington Ngwepe, chief operations officer at ICASA said the authority would scrap payment of bonuses following the unfavourable findings.

"For the first time in many years, the leadership of the organisation took the firm view not to pay any performance bonuses to all staff due to the desolate performance. This has sent a clear message to all in the organisation that everyone will be held accountable for non-delivery going forward."

ICASA has also vowed to achieve at least 65% of its regulatory and other business targets for the current financial year according to Ngwepe. This would include broadband deployment and ensuring equitable treatment of political parties by broadcasters in the 2016 local government elections.

"We have also positioned the organisation, both structurally and functionally, to perform. The organisational realignment / restructuring is now complete and all divisions are aligned to work collaboratively to deliver on the organisational mandate."

Contents of damning audit report

Africa Boso, senior manager for media relations and communication at the Auditor General's office referred ITWeb Africa to ICASA for a copy of the report detailing how the authority conducted its finances in the past year.

"... the AG will release his general report(s) on all provincial and national departments & entities on 25 November,"said Boso.

ICASA confirmed in communication with ITWeb Africa that the Auditor General found that they had underspent on conditional grants, performed inadequately/unreliably with information, had deficient internal controls, and that they mismanaged National Revenue Fund receivables.

"The report presents an overview of the Authority's performance for the 2014-15 financial year. It paints a bleak picture of the Authority's performance during the past financial period. The organisation is sitting at a desolate performance rate of 29%, meaning of all the targets we have set for ourselves (at least those on which the Auditor-General ("A-G") measures us against) we only achieved 29%," said Ngwepe.

Ngwepe, now with ICASA for just over a year, says that no person within the authority is in denial about the internal and external problems that the organisation faces and the reasons why the organisation has performed so poorly.

"Neither are we ignorant about the mammoth task that lies ahead if we are to turn the organisation around," he added.

Minister demands reasons for misspending

ICASA has not confirmed receipt of a letter from South Africa's Minister of Communications Faith Muthambi asking them to indicate how they plan to turn the stumbling authority around in light of the Auditor Generals findings.

Minister Muthambi expressed concern about what she described as a "lack of consequence management implementation" in a statement issued by her office.

"It appears that there is a lack of consequence management implementation. I have also requested the entities to give their management plan because some of the wasteful expenditure could have been avoided," said Muthambi in a statement issued by the Communications Ministry.

Muthambi added that while she welcomes the progress made by some of the entities reporting to the Ministry of Communications to curb wasteful expenditure for the period of 2014/15, she wants explanations for the waste including from ICASA.

"I have since written letters to entities that have reported an increase in wasteful expenditure asking them to explain what remedial actions management will take to reduce this occurrence and improve their financial positions"

Muthambi also noted that South Africa's public broadcaster (SABC) had seen what she described as a "drastic reduction in fruitless and wasteful expenditure" for the period under review, while ICASA "has reported an increase in wasteful expenditure."