National audit office gets nod from World Bank

The auditor-general of SA is one of two national audit offices in the world enjoying very high independence to carry out its duties without fear or favour, a report from the World Bank shows.

The chapter 9 institution, which has been cracking the whip by exposing corruption, maladministration and malfeasance in the public service, was one of only two (the other being the Seychelles) of 118 countries assessed to have very high independence from any undue political interference.

The World Bank said its Supreme Audit Institutions Independence Index: 2021 Global Synthesis report, which studied 118 supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in the world, was aimed at better equipping the international bank task teams and development partners to support the strengthening of audit institutions in client countries.

“Truly independent SAIs can fulfil their mandate to reduce waste and the abuse of public resources so public resources can be better channelled for programmes that fight poverty, which is a focus of the international development community and the core mission of the World Bank Group.”

SA’s counterparts in the Brics bloc — Brazil, Russia, India and China — were among 17 countries assessed to have high independence, with India falling into the list of 33 countries with substantial independence.

Africa’s last absolute monarchy of Eswatini was in the moderate independence category, while Belarus — infamously known as Europe’s last dictatorship — was in the low independence category, together with African countries such as Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Gambia, and Lesotho.

Auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke said the positive announcement was a “credit to our country’s constitution, which jealously protects the independence of our office to carry out its work without any due interference”.

She said the findings clearly demonstrated how SA had allowed the National Audit Office to support the country’s democracy.

“The support and trust in our work is evidenced by the various political parties’ unanimous endorsement of the amendments to the Public Audit Act, which we, as the National Audit Office, continue to implement without fear, favour or prejudice,” Maluleke said.

“Equally, the unwavering support we continue to receive from the citizenry, civil society organisations and the media, bolsters our resolve to work even harder in supporting the drive towards wholesale good governance in our public sector to ensure that all citizens receive the service delivery they deserve.”