Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999)RegulationsTreasury Regulations for Departments, Constitutional Institutions and Public EntitiesPart 4 : Revenue and expenditure management9. Unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure |
| 9.1 | General [Sections 38(1)(g) and 76(2)(e) of the PFMA] |
| 9.1.1 | The accounting officer of an institution must exercise all reasonable care to prevent and detect unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and must for this purpose implement effective, efficient and transparent processes of financial and risk management. |
| 9.1.2 | When an official of an institution discovers unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure, that official must immediately report such expenditure to the accounting officer. In the case of a department, such expenditure must also be reported in the monthly report, as required by section 40(4)(b) of the Act. Irregular expenditure incurred by a department in contravention of tender procedures must also be brought to the notice of the relevant tender board or procurement authority, whichever applicable. |
| 9.1.3 | When an accounting officer determines the appropriateness of disciplinary steps against an official in terms of section 38(1)(g) of the Act, the accounting officer must take into account – |
| (a) | the circumstances of the transgression; |
| (b) | the extent of the expenditure involved; and |
| (c) | the nature and seriousness of the transgression. |
| 9.1.4 | The recovery of losses or damages resulting from unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure must be dealt with in accordance with regulation 12. |
| 9.1.5 | The amount of the unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure must be disclosed as a note to the annual financial statements of the institution. |