Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke has cautioned the government of national unity (GNU) to prioritise service delivery and enhance inter-governmental planning in its capacities in both the executive and the legislature. Maluleke released the latest audit outcomes for provincial and national departments and entities, governed by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), on 27 November in Read more >
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Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke addressed the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association last week on the ongoing challenge of compliance, material irregularities (MIs), and responsible financial management. “For the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) report,” she said, “we identified a total loss of R14-billion. As we speak, R1.29-billion had been recovered.” This staggering loss is counted from 2019, Read more >
Public procurement is one of the most corruption-prone activities that governments undertake. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime cites several reasons for this situation, including the volume of transactions, the multitude of stakeholders, and the close interaction between public officials and businesses. Corruption Watch (CW) has built up an extensive body of work around Read more >
By Kirsten Pearson One unique feature of public finance is the concept of lapsing funds. Any unspent government funds at the end of a financial year must be returned to the treasury. This makes perfect sense. If government is borrowing money to fund its programmes, why leave funds idle while paying interest on loans? But Read more >
National and provincial government has improved over the last four years on reporting on finances. They have also improved on performance and compliance with key legislation, but for continued improvement to be realised, the national legislature and its provincial counterparts must enhance oversight mechanisms that will ensure transparency and diligent performance by the departments that Read more >
The legal battle between the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) over the legal standing of the fund’s accounting standards may be swaying in the former’s favour, but it is far from over. Parliament recently took the RAF to task for its relentless position on the matter, having insisted in Read more >
Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke, in a statement issued on Wednesday 5 April 2023, has welcomed Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s decision to withdraw the controversial exemption of Eskom from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1 for three years. This exemption meant that the struggling power utility would not have had to Read more >
Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke’s extended powers are starting to bear fruits, with more positive responses from provincial and national departments. She warns, however, that proper oversight and accountability measures remain a challenge, with only 6% of departments and other audited entities obtaining clean audits. Maluleke released the latest audit outcomes for the 2020/21 financial year on Read more >
The public health sector is in dire trouble, with its entities being responsible for a substantial amount of the unauthorised expenditure recorded by the Auditor-General of South Africa in its latest report on audit outcomes of provincial and national departments. Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke briefed the media on Wednesday afternoon, after having tabled the 2020/21 Public Read more >