The Department of Land Affairs says it has already taken steps to address weaknesses in its financial controls that resulted in a qualified audit from the auditor-general for a string of irregularities.

In a press statement, the department’s director-general, Thozi Gwanya, stated that the discrepancies arose because time differences between the date of payment and date of registration on the land database had led to duplicated entries.

The audit tabled in Parliament recently could not find sufficient evidence to account for grant commitments of R455 million, interest earnings of R13 million, livestock of R14,5 million and other assets worth R1,15 billion disclosed in the department’s financial statement for 2007-08.

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