Tag: irregular expenditure

The introduction of the new regulations in the Social Development Grant Act is commended and we stress the crucial role this will have in ensuring the lawful allocation of government funds. It can be emphasised that government needs to do more to hold citizens accountable for their own progress and own development.

The 2019-20 local government general report released by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) on 15 June continues to emphasise the lack of accountability and consequence management in local government which impacts service delivery and municipal finance management.

Too many powerful and well-remunerated people in our public sector are letting South Africans down by continually failing to achieve the strategic objectives of the entities they manage. Officials in the public sector must employ clean governance principles across every aspect of their operations.

The proposal for a universal basic income grant (BIG) has been on the table for almost 20 years. It was first recommended by the Committee of Inquiry (Taylor Committee) into a Comprehensive System of Social Security for South Africa in 2002, after a number of civil society organisations had petitioned for it on account of persistent poverty and structural inequality.

Failure to implement effective compliance and accountability systems is costing the public sector dearly and making supply chains fertile ground for corruption. If the South African government is serious about stopping the rot, strict measures need to be introduced in state departments and safeguards against cyberattacks significantly improved. 

We have noted with concern the Auditor General’s report of the audit outcomes for local government, which showed that only 8% of municipalities received clean audits for the 2018/19 financial year, despite R1.26 billion being spent on financial reporting consultants.

As we approach Budget Speech Day on 26 February 2020, many people are wondering what kind of rabbit Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is going to pull out of his hat this year. Most commentators will talk about ‘bracket-creep’, sin taxes and an increase of 1% to the VAT rate. But the Minister needs to start becoming a little more creative.

Considering the high profile scandals that have dominated news headlines in the last few years, from VBS Mutual Bank to Eskom, it does not seem unreasonable to say that South Africa may have a corporate fraud problem. What’s more, the accounting irregularities that led to shareholders being defrauded and losing significant shareholder value, may have been entirely preventable if the internal auditors had been more empowered, protected and held to the same level of accountability as external auditors, via appropriate regulation of the internal audit industry.