One government department sent its financial results to the Auditor-General four months after the deadline

The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development (DLRRD) submitted its Annual Financial Statements (AFS) to the Auditor-General (AGSA) on the evening of 30 September 2026.

This is four months after the deadline by which government departments were supposed to have submitted their results for auditing.

This was confirmed last week Wednesday by the AGSA in a letter to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development.

Under the Public Finance Management Act, national and provincial departments must submit their AFS to the AGSA within two months of the end of the financial year.

Because the government financial year ends on 31 March, the official results submission deadline is 31 May.

Committee chairperson Albert Mncwango described the DLRRD’s delay in submission as a “serious failure of governance and accountability.”

The DLRRD’s failure to submit its results by the deadline first came to light during a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on 1 October.

The meeting had been convened to probe the Department’s failure to submit within the specified timeframe, after the AGSA said the audit process could not proceed without the Department’s submission.

Member of Parliament Mlindi Nhanha said the four-month delay had significantly hindered Parliament’s ability to exercise effective oversight at the DLRRD.

“The Department’s late submission of its AFS to AGSA indicates serious failures in financial management, accountability, and the Department’s ability to fulfil its core mandate,”  Nhanha said.

Nhanha pointed to remarks made by the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, Mzwanele Nyhontso, during the Portfolio Committee meeting.

Nyhontso revealed that his Department had previously returned nearly R2 billion allocated for land restitution to the National Treasury, saying it was unable to spend these funds.

“With thousands of land claims still outstanding, this calls into question the Department’s capacity to fulfil its mandate,” Nhanha said.

Nhanha said he would submit parliamentary questions to the Minister to determine what led to the four-month delay, who was responsible, and what consequences will be imposed.

He said he would hold Nyhontso to his word after the Minister promised the Portfolio Committee that he would apply proper consequence management to those responsible.