Picture: The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi
By OBAKENG MAJE
2 July 2025- The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it will hold North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi to account following his oral reply to my question regarding underspending by North West Provincial Departments. The DA said according to Mokgosi, based on pre-audited financial performance, most departments spent between 98% and 99% of their allocated budgets aligned with acceptable spending norms.
DA spokesperson on Office of the Premier, Freddy Sonakile said, however, the total provincial underspending still amounts to a staggering R383 million, which includes significant shortfalls in key departments. Sonakile said the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism recorded expenditure levels below 95%, together accounting for R143 million in underspending.
“The Premier has committed to assessing the severity of the underspending and the reasons behind it, with a view to instituting consequences in terms of applicable legislation for both MECs and Heads of Department (HODs). He further indicated, in response to a follow-up question, that this review would be completed within a month.
“Additionally, the Premier confirmed that the province lost R294 million in conditional grants, with only R172 million submitted for rollover consideration by departments such as Health, Arts and Culture, Education, Human Settlements, and Agriculture and Rural Development,” he said.
Sonakile further said the majority of these grants are linked to infrastructure delivery. He added that, in the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa at last week’s National Council of Provinces (NCOP) sitting: “Failure to spend funds by a department is tantamount to treason, regardless of how little those funds may seem.”
“So, we fully agree. Every cent of underspending reflects a lost opportunity to deliver services to the people of North West, whether it’s a road not fixed, a clinic not built, or support not given to farmers and entrepreneurs.
“The DA will monitor this matter closely, particularly the outcomes of the Premier’s promised review, and we will continue to hold the provincial government accountable, not just for spending funds, but for ensuring value for money in every expenditure undertaken,” said Sonakile.
Meanwhile, the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi spokesperson, Sello Tatai said: “As per the pre-audited 2024/5 financial expenditure performance almost all the departments spent their entire budget registering 98% to 99%, which is the expected performance as per legislation.
“This includes the Office of the Premier, Health, Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation, Community Safety and Transport Management, Provincial Treasury, Education, Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Social Development and Human Settlements.”
Tatai said this is a much-improved performance compared to the previous financial year. He said only the Departments of Agriculture and Rural as well as Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism whose expenditure is below 95% amounting to R143 million.
“A total amount of under-expenditure of all departments is R383 million respectively. The Office of the Premier working with the Provincial Treasury, would evaluate the severity and reasons for underspending, and thereafter all the necessary consequence management processes will ensue in line with both applicable legislations for both MECs and HoDs.
“Of the R294 million underspending on conditional grant an amount of R172.2 million has been submitted for rollover approval in the 2025/26 financial year in the Departments of Health, Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation, Education, Public Works and Roads, Human Settlements and Agriculture and Rural Development,” said Tatai.
He said as indicated above, the funds relate to services rendered to citizens through various conditional grants and the bulk of these funding are attached to infrastructure projects.
The Guardian 