The DA in Limpopo calls on the MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Jerry Maseko, to introduce a Legal Performance Report as part of the department’s quarterly feedback in order to stop taxpayers from footing the bill for state attorney negligence.
In a quarterly report presentation it was revealed that the Limpopo Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture continues to waste taxpayer money due to the repeated failure of state attorneys to appear in court, resulting in default judgments against the department.
The department has admitted that many cases are not lost on merit but due to the negligence of state attorneys, forcing the department to file costly rescission applications.
These unnecessary legal costs ultimately burden the public while shielding incompetent legal representatives in the offices of the state attorney from accountability. Taxpayers should not have to cover legal costs caused by incompetence, especially in a department that is so severely under-resourced and underfunded.
This legal performance report should track ongoing cases, monitor the performance of state attorneys, and identify repeated failures to appear.
Furthermore, the department must start reporting delinquent state attorneys who contribute to unnecessary costs, to ensure that appropriate disciplinary action is taken.
The department has a duty to enforce accountability and ensure that its legal battles are fought on merit rather than being lost by default. We will continue to monitor this issue and demand that public funds are used responsibly.