Johannesburg: The North West provincial government has been unable to investigate cases of fraud and corruption referred by departments because the premier's office does not have a forensic unit, according to a report by the Public Service Commission. Despite the availability of posts in the forensic unit, most of them have not been filled, mainly due to budgetary constraints and the moratorium placed on the filling of posts. As a result, the province was unable to investigate and provide feedback on corruption cases referred by the National Anti-Corruption Hotline, said the report, which was released on Tuesday.

It was based on the commission's first consolidated evaluation of provincial government departments, focusing on the North West. The commission was concerned that, based on the auditor-general's findings, half of the province's departments did not have effective internal financial controls, which increased the risk of irregular and wasteful expenditure.

While the North West had shown improved performance in the past two years , provincial government departments still required a lot of attention.

The report showed the province's performance had gone up from an average of 47% in the previous evaluation cycle to 52% in the 2009-10 year . Among areas of concern were delays in resolving cases of misconduct.

North West government spokesman Matshube Mfoloe said yesterday that the province welcomed the report, although officials were still studying its contents. "This is the kind of feedback, especially the weaknesses, that ought to be embraced and accepted with a very open mind because that is the only way we can improve and raise the bar as a way forward," he said.