South Africa's parliament is still waiting for 49 annual reports from government departments and public entities, a week after the September 30 deadline. This delay hinders parliament's constitutional mandate of scrutinizing how these entities performed, spent public money, and met their targets for the 2025/26 financial year. The delay affects the oversight process, as committees rely on these reports to question ministers and accounting officers about the use of public funds.
The outstanding reports include those from significant entities such as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), SABC, Broadband Infraco, Telkom, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency. Other entities with outstanding reports are the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), the Public Service Commission, and the department of public service and administration. Some departments, such as correctional services and police, submitted their reports on time, with the latter submitted on September 30.
The annual reports are crucial for parliament's oversight of the executive, providing committees with information on an institution's financial performance, service delivery, and progress against its annual plans. This allows MPs to question ministers and accounting officers about the use of public money and whether targets were met. Without these reports, committees cannot effectively scrutinize an institution's performance, affecting the timing of committee hearings, oversight reports, and recommendations on corrective action.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo stated that ministers and accounting authorities that missed the deadline wrote to speaker Thoko Didiza explaining the delays. These explanations are tabled in a public parliamentary paper, along with the reports, and referred to relevant committees for consideration. By October 7, 13 written explanations had been received, covering entities such as SAA, SABC, NYDA, and Prasa.
The explanations provided by the entities cover various reasons for the delays, but the specifics of these reasons are not publicly available. Some institutions, such as the department of human settlements and several entities in its portfolio, submitted their reports after the deadline, on October 2. The department of public works and infrastructure submitted on October 6, and the department of justice and constitutional development submitted on October 7.
The backlog of outstanding reports extends beyond departments to public entities and institutions responsible for major public functions. Entities such as Prasa, which operates passenger rail services, SABC, the public broadcaster, and Broadband Infraco, which provides broadband infrastructure, have outstanding reports. The annual reports allow parliament to scrutinize what institutions actually delivered during the financial year and identify weaknesses.
The late reports disrupt the timetable for parliamentary oversight, but do not prevent parliament from eventually scrutinizing an institution. The speaker's decision to refer explanations for late reports to committees means the delays themselves can become the subject of parliamentary oversight. As a result, parliament must conduct part of its oversight work without information that should have been available by the end of September.
Key points
- 49 annual reports from government departments and public entities are still outstanding, a week after the September 30 deadline.
- The delays hinder parliament's constitutional mandate of scrutinizing how entities performed, spent public money, and met their targets.
- The outstanding reports include those from significant entities such as the NPA, SABC, Broadband Infraco, and Prasa.
