Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson should be dismissed after 51 percent of her department's planned targets were not achieved, the DA said on Monday.

"Only 17 percent were actually fully achieved, even though the department managed to spend 99 percent of its appropriated budget," Democratic Alliance spokeswoman Annette Steyn said in a statement.

"The majority of planned indicators and targets specified in the strategic plan were not even submitted for audit purposes... Clearly, Minister Joemat-Pettersson is unfit to hold public office."

Steyn said the agriculture department's annual performance provided ample grounds for dismissal.

The auditor general (AG) had noted the department could not explain why specific targets were not achieved in 46 percent of the cases.

"Of those that were submitted, he writes that he was unable to satisfy himself as to the validity, accuracy, and completeness of the actual performance reported," said Steyn.

Where under-expenditure occurred it was related to "weak spots" within the department.

Joemat-Pettersson's spokesperson Palesa Mokomele said the minister did not run the department's administration.

"The minister does not run the administration of the department. That is the director general's job," she said.

"The DA are the ones who are not fit to run office as they are not aware of what the minister's role within the department is."

Steyn said about half of R36-million not spent by the department was attributable to the procurement of mobile veterinary clinics as part of the primary animal health care programme.

"The AG found that the accounting officer did not take effective steps to prevent irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure," she said.

"Irregular expenditure amounted to R6.1-million, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure to R12.2-million."