Teta chairman speaks out on recovery of ‘lost’ funds

WHILE PRESS sources in the Transport Education and Training Authority (Teta) seemed to have indicated that the authority’s R251.8-million investment in Fidentia had been written off, chairman June Dube – although he admitted the investment had been “a debacle” – is confident that every effort is still being made to recover some of the lost monies. In his annual report to parliament, Dube said: “Teta is working closely with all relevant authorities to resolve uncertainties and to try and recover as much funds as possible from the investments made in Fidentia.” These parties include the auditor-general (who conducted the statutory external audit); forensic auditors, KPMG; Cliffe Dekker Attorneys (who are dealing with the curators); the department of labour and the national treasury. “The recovery of the R251.8-m is now in the hands of the curators and legal representatives,” said Dube. But there are still bucks in the bank, and Teta’s financial statements show it will be able to meet all its commitments for this financial year, in spite of the capital amount lost through the Fidentia investment. “Teta is currently in a position to honour all discretionary (inclusive of 2006-2007), small and medium sized entities (SMMEs), and project contracts that were entered into up to the end of the financial year under review,” Dube said. “Teta will also meet its SLA targets for the 2007/08 financial year.” One area that might have caused concern during the year was a reduction in the number of active levy-paying companies. Because the minister of finance allowed certain exemptions, Teta “lost” 3 956 SMMEs as levy payers. “However,” said Dube, “this has not had much of a financial impact on funds. “Income from levies amounted to R239.8-m for the 2006 financial year. This represents an increase of R14.1 million from the previous year’s R225.7-m. “Teta currently has R157-m committed to active discretionary grants with a further R61-m for mandatory and R28-m for SMME and special projects.”