It's Women's Month in South Africa, which means that South African women have a whole 31 days to sit back and relax, knowing they're in the safe hands of a government department working smoothly and efficiently to improve their interests. Oh no, wait, we must be thinking of somewhere else.

A report from the parliamentary committee tasked with oversight of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities has revealed the extent to which Lulu Xingwana's department is an expensive joke. By REBECCA DAVIS.

In late March, the portfolio committee which monitors the DWCPD paid a visit to the department offices. The subsequent report, together with a number of other presentations, was discussed in parliament last Wednesday.

The minutes of the meeting are available on the Parliamentary Monitoring Group website, and the picture they paint is of a department mired in utter inertia and mismanagement, manifested in everything from the physical condition of its offices to its shoddy reporting on important data.

There are statements in the latest minutes which practically beggar belief.

"The cleaning contract [for the department offices] ended in March 2013."

"The Department had not known exactly how many people it employed."

"The Department listed putting...