I have been quite critical in the past about the oversight role of the Auditor-General (AG) on the functioning of government departments and entities. My criticism stemmed mainly from the lack of consequences arising from any adverse findings, and the lack of improvement in governance structures to avoid repeated infractions by culprits.
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It was therefore very heartening to witness the proclamation of the Public Audit Amendment Act by President Cyril Ramaphosa, which became law on April 1, 2019. Most critics such as myself have argued for the AG’s office to be given ‘more bite and less bark’ in executing its mandate, which essentially has been to audit and report on how the government spends taxpayers’ money.
Remedial action
This new Act will arguably go a long way towards achieving this by allowing the AG to also make recommendations for remedial action to be carried out within defined time frames. By creating a new category of finding called ‘material irregularity’, the Act allows the AG to refer these infractions to the appropriate public body such as the Public Protector, SAPS or the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
Further, the Act allows the AG’s office to issue a certificate of debt against the accounting officer of the delinquent government entity if recovery of the misspent funds is not pursued expeditiously. It makes it the responsibility of the relevant executive authority (minister, municipal Exco etc.) to ensure recovery against the accounting officer.
There is no doubt in my mind that the changes to the Act are going to galvanise the accounting heads of all departments to ensure that the culture of impunity and brazen lack of consequence is finally stamped out.
Justice
It is unfortunate that the Act does not apply retrospectively, but it is important to note that long-term contracts that are active can still fall under the auspices of the amendment, which might result in wrongdoers finally meeting justice. There is nothing like your own bank balance being jeopardised to focus the mind of any senior manager.
After matriculating, Vijay Naidoo studied Economics in the UK. Upon his return, he joined the family construction business as MD for 10 years.
He subsequently joined his sister in their furniture manufacturing business as director for quality assurance and operations. He was responsible for all quality aspects of their products, and led the project to the business achieving an ISO 9000 quality accreditation. As an export focused business, this was important for our international competitiveness.
Mr Naidoo has an abiding interest in quality management and productivity improvement, particularly in manufacturing.
More recently, he has focused a lot of his time on giving back to the community by way of mentorship of small businesses and sitting on the executive of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also sits on the Board of the Ugu South Coast Development Agency.
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