Senior management at the provincial social development department has been ordered to reimburse R174000 paid for the accommodation of officials and a woman identified as MEC Mositsanagape Mokomele-Mothibi’s friend during the ANC elective conference in Mangaung last year.

The order was given by the provincial select committee on public accounts (Scopa) when it called Mokomele-Mothibi and her top management to account for the expenditure yesterday.

Records show that the department paid R174000 to Summer Place Boutique Guest House for seven officials from December 10 to 15 when these officials, including the MEC, were attending the Mangaung conference.

When asked for clarity, Mokomele-Mothibi conceded that her friend, only identified in documents as Mavis,

had indeed used one of the rooms.

“I can only account for Mavis, who works for the greater Taung local municipality. I agreed that she could sleep in a room that had been booked for the chief financial officer who did not come because the expenses had already been incurred,” she said.

While the MEC said the department was supposed to attend a benchmarking workshop with its Free State counterpart, which was cancelled at the last minute, she could not say whether Mavis and other people who used the accommodation were supposed to attend the said workshop or were at the ANC conference.

Department head, Matshidiso Mogale denied that the department had paid any money for people to attend the Manguang conference.

“The CFO and myself never signed anything about the ANC conference. I did not even go to Mangaung and the CFO was hospitalised at the time,” she said.

Scopa then asked the MEC and management to provide evidence for the expenditure. The order will be rescinded if they provide documentary evidence that the accommodation was a legitimate state expense.

The department will appear again on Tuesday next week but if the money was used to pay for accommodation to attend the ANC conference, it had to be repaid.

Committee chairperson Hlomane Chauke said: “We are giving you until Tuesday to furnish us with information on this R174000 but the bottom line is that if the money was spent for a party conference, it has to be paid back to state coffers.”

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