Cape Town – Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has condemned the underachievement of the Department of Basic Education, saying it failed to meet targets even though it used more than 90 percent of its budget.

Scopa chairperson Themba Godi said the department, under Minister Angie Motshekga, spent 93% of its budget, yet it implemented less than 50% of its targets for the 2016/17 financial year.

Motshekga was one of the few ministers who survived President Cyril Ramaphosa’s late night Cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

“The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) condemns the underachievement versus the utilisation of the budget on school infrastructure by the Department of Basic Education. The department has spent 93 percent of its budget whereas it has implemented less than 50 percent of its targets for the 2016/17 financial year,” Godi said on Tuesday.

He said Scopa noted poor monitoring mechanisms within the department.

Godi added that the committee could not get sufficient responses from the department on why it failed to meet its targets, and noted that the implementing agents of the department got away with not following proper supply chain regulations and legislation. Godi has requested the department to forward written responses to the committee with details on the suppliers used for scholar transport and on the kind of vehicles that these suppliers use.