Tautona Lodge missing from Govt books of accounts

The Auditor General has said that the government-owned Tautona Lodge has been excluded from the books of accounts. The multimillion Pula lodge in Gantsi was controversially acquired by the government from former minister Christian de Graaf. It is not clear what the government intends to use the lodge for. In her latest Annual Statements of Accounts for the Financial Year Ended 31 st March 2020, Auditor General Keneilwe Senyarelo states that Tauotona Lodge, as one of the commercial undertakings wholly owned by the government, was excluded from government books [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,4,3" ihc_mb_template="3" ] of accounts also known as statements of accounts. She indicated that Tautona Lodge (Pty) Ltd was purchased at the value of P58 million. Following his disclosure in Parliament that the property was acquired for P58 million and that it was budgeted for in the NDP 11 Mid-Term Review, the Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Kabo Morwaeng, was evasive about the acquisition. In his response, a letter written by Morwaeng sets the tone by acknowledging receipt of a letter from the MP for Maun West, Dumelang Saleshando, dated 3 September 2021, which sought details about the acquisition. On a related matter, the Auditor General found that another commercial undertaking that is wholly owned by the Government and excluded from the statements of accounts is an entity identified as Debt Participation Capital Funding Limited valued at P71 million. Senyarelo also found other various statements of accounts wanting. She indicated that “I have qualified my opinion on the Annual Statements of Accounts in the following: Statement of loans and investments from special funds; the figure of P3 328 409 805 shown as the value of investments from Special Funds as at 31 March 2022 is misstated in respect of the following matter:” -The payment of P900 566 097 made to the liquidator of BCL from Public Debt Service Fund classified as a loan is included under this statement although there is no evidence for this as an investment as stated in the report for financial years ended 31 March 2020 and 2021. -The Debt Participation Special Fund (DPSF) accounts amounting to P9 153 713 were not verified as most supporting documents were not availed for audit. -P673 597 322 relating to the balance of purchase of shares in De Beers Limited for which an appropriate account is yet to be identified and the amount cleared from the books of accounts as the payment has already been made. -P211 944 430 paid as an advance to meet the BCL liquidation totaling P35 245 900 for some treasury offices were overdrawn. -The remittance account had unreconciled general ledger receipts and payments from the previous financial years amounting to P82 716 814. -The salaries account reconciliation had unreconciled items in the general ledger amounting to P283 060 181 and unreconciled payments of P206 399 864 in the bank statement both dating as far back as 2005. -The EFT Group accounts had unreconciled transactions dating as far back as 2013 a follows that need to be cleared; -As at 31 March 2022, the bank statement had a balance of P21 791 691 inclusive of unreconciled payments amounting to P1 516 784 dating as far back as May 2013. -As at March 2022, the bank statement had a balance of P5 165 662 inclusive of unreconciled payments of P3 912 195 dating as far back as July 2013. Government Pula Card account had an overdrawn general ledger balance of P2 455 193 as at 31 March 2022. Call accounts had debit and credit general ledger balance of P434 572 044 and P189 864 395, respectively. -The reconciliation statements for the 34 Treasury Offices were not availed for audit. -The Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) accounts had an overdrawn general ledger balance of P1 070 446 552. In conclusion, Senyarelo stated that; “I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my qualified opinion.” [/ihc-hide-content]

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Tautona Lodge missing from Govt books of accounts

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