# The Auditor-General’s office says procurement and consequence management, strategic planning and performance management remain the key areas of compliance weaknesses across the education sector. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the sector increased from 7.48-million-rand in 2024/25 to 175.6-million-rand in 2025/26, with the Free State being the top contributor. The Gauteng Education Department was the largest contributor to the 20.7-billion-rand in irregular expenditure incurred by provincial Education Departments in the financial year ending in March. The Auditor-General says persistent non-compliance in procurement can negatively affect teaching and learning.
Auditor-General flags persistent non-compliance in procurement in provincial Education Departments