The Portfolio throwing hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds down the drain

South Africa’s Police Portfolio incurred R667 million in irregular expenditure over the 2024/25 financial year, a 140% increase compared to the previous year.

This was revealed by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), presenting its audit outcomes in Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police.

The irregular expenditure for the year under review, and also relating to the prior year, is made up of:

• South African Police Service (SAPS) – R649,722,000;
• Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) – R17,482,172;
• Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) – R440,000;
• Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) – R168,000.

As such, the various departments within the portfolio breached the pillars of sound procurement: equitable, fair, cost effective, transparent and competitive.

“In addition to performance reporting issues, the SAPS has shown persistent non-compliance with supply chain management (SCM) laws and regulations,” said the AGSA.

This includes irregularities in the procurement of goods and services, which have contributed to a growing trend of irregular expenditure.

“Despite repeated findings and recommendations, the department has not implemented sufficient corrective measures, leading to continued non-compliance in SCM,” the Auditor General noted.

“These issues reflect an ineffective and is ultimately affecting service delivery and public trust in the institution.”

The SAPS reported R56 million in irregular expenditure under assessment. The amount covers transactions that may have breached supply chain laws, pending confirmation through an ongoing review.

Once verified, the affected transactions will be formally recorded as irregular expenditure, said the AGSA.

While progress has been made in investigating some of the irregular expenditure, the AGSA noted that there is slow progress in finalising actions to deal with these amounts.

“This delay undermines the effectiveness of consequence management and weakens accountability mechanisms.”

This includes accumulative amounts of nearly R2.5 billion, which have not been submitted to authorities:

• SAPS – R2.45 billion;
• PSiRA – R82.48 million;
• CSPS – R28.66 million;
• IPID – R22.43 million.

Not good enough, says Parliament

The Portfolio Committee on Police criticised the SAPS and PSiRA for failing to improve their audit outcomes and for ongoing non-compliance with SCM regulations, calling for stronger consequence management.

Chairperson Ian Cameron said, “It is completely unacceptable that the SAPS and PSiRA have persistently shown non-compliance with SCM and regulations.

“Yet there is little or no action undertaken to ensure consequence management. An environment that lacks consequence management will breed impunity, and unfortunately this seems to be the case at SAPS and PSiRA.”

The Auditor-General reported continued weaknesses in both entities’ audit opinions, suggesting poor implementation of corrective plans.

While SAPS received an unqualified audit, the committee noted that “the fact that there is endemic manipulation of the evaluation criteria points to corruption within the system.”

“The committee highlighted the need for lifestyle audits, initially for high-risk officers within the system, to root out irregular appointments that do not meet identified specifications,” said Cameron.

At PSiRA, the committee welcomed the SIU’s investigation into a R129 million UIF-linked training scheme that failed to meet objectives, only 118 of 6,507 trainees were accredited.

Cameron said, “It is unacceptable that even after the authority has admitted that no due diligence was performed… nothing tangible and no practical interventions have been made.”

The committee also criticised PSiRA’s poor debt collection, overspending, and the 24-month vacancy in its SCM manager post, calling these “mundane dysfunctions” unacceptable.

It urged the Minister to exercise oversight in terms of the PSiRA Act to ensure accountability and improvement.

These revelations add to the growing controversies surrounding the police service. In July, KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that a drug cartel had infiltrated law enforcement, politics, and private security.

He implicatedseveral figures — including then police minister Senzo Mchunu — in ties with accused crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who received a R360 million SAPS health services contract in 2024.

The contract has since been cancelled, and both the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and a parliamentary ad hoc committee are investigating the claims.