Mafikeng - North West Premier Maureen Modiselle has warned heads of department that she will not tolerate corruption especially by senior officials in government.
Modiselle said some senior officials got involved in corrupt practices despite receiving a good salary and in the process compromised service delivery.
"This will not be tolerated. People must do what they are paid for and we aim to ensure that all regulations that deal with accounting transactions are applied and implemented," she said.
The MEC was tabling the annual report debate of the Office of the Premier in the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
She extended her gratitude to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the office of the Auditor General (AG) for meticulously interrogating her department's annual report.
"All government institutions are constitutionally compelled to account and give detailed reports pertaining to the expenditure of public finances and overall service delivery," she said.
The premier noted that more than R16 million was detected as irregular expenditure. This was "unacceptable".
She said such an occurrence manifested not because there was a non-disclosure of the amount to the executive authority but that it was due to the department not spending this amount in line with guidelines.
Modiselle further said that in the future the department would reduce and limit irregular expenditure and strengthen its supply chain management by ensuring that a stringent procurement system was followed.
"We must further ensure that if there is any deviation from the normal procurement procedure, a motivation should be provided to the accounting officer for approval of the expenditure," she said.
Recently, Modiselle ordered a forensic investigation into four provincial government departments including the Office of the Premier with the ultimate goal of improving corporate governance, clean administration and financial management capacity.
